UkL 

• 


REPORT 


OF  AN 

"JVESTIGATION  OF  MATTERS  RELATING  TO  THE 

CARE,  TREATMENT    AND    RELIEF    OF 

DEPENDENT    WIDOWS    WITH 

DEPENDENT  CHILDREN 

IN    THE    CITY    OF     NEW    YORK 


BY    THE 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  CONFERENCE 

CALLED  BY  MR.  O.  F.  LEWIS  AND  HELD  IN  THE 

OFFICE  OF  MR    THOMAS  M.  MULRY 

ON  JANUARY  4,  1913 


California 

egional 

acility 


The  resolution  creating  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee and  defining  the  scope  of  the  investi- 
gation was  adopted  at  a  second  meeting  of 
the  Conference  held  in  the  Trustees'  Room 
of  the  United  Charities  Building  on  February 
5,  1913. 


PAM 


;.1983 


SRLF. 
URL 


FOREWORD 


Under  date  of  January  18, 1913,  Mr.  0.  F.  Lewis,  who 
had  been  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Governmental 
Aid  to  Dependent  Families  appointed  by  the  Second  New 
York  City  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction,  held 
in  May,  1911,  issued  an  invitation  to  the  following  per- 
sons "to  discuss  the  necessity  of  legislation  providing 
for  governmental  aid  for  dependent  widows ' ' : 

Robert  W.  de  Forest  Rev.  William  I.  Nichols 

R.  Fulton  Cutting  Michael  J.  Scanlan 

Leopold  Plaut  Edmund  J.  Butler 

Homer  Folks  Lillian  D.  Wald 

Mrs.  William  Einstein  Cyrus  L.  Sulzberger 
Mrs.  William  Grant  Brown       Thomas  M.  Mulry 

Rabbi  Stephen  S.  Wise  Thomas  W.  Hynes 

Mrs.  Florence  Kelley  Frank  Tucker 

Thomas  J.  Riley  0.  F.  Lewis 

The  meeting  was  held  at  the  office  of  Mr.  Thomas  M. 
Mulry  in  the  Emigrant  Industrial  Savings  Bank,  51 
Chambers  Street,  at  3  P.  M.,  Friday,  January  24,  1913. 

After  prolonged  discussion,  on  motion  of  Rabbi 
Stephen  S.  Wise,  duly  seconded,  it  was  resolved  "that 
this  Conference  constitute  itself  a  committee  for  the  fur- 
ther study  of  dependent  widows  and  children  with  the 
understanding  that  funds  are  to  be  available  sufficient 
to  make  such  a  study  thorough." 

Upon  the  call  of  Mr.  0.  F.  Lewis,  Chairman  of  the 
Conference,  a  meeting  was  held  in  the  Trustees'  Eoom 
of  the  United  Charities  Building  on  Wednesday,  Feb- 
ruary 5,  1913,  at  4  P.  M.  At  this  meeting  the  following 
resolution  was  adopted : 


"That  an  executive  committee  of  seven  be  appointed, 
of  which  Mr.  Frank  Tucker  shall  be  chairman,  who  should 
appoint  six  other  members,  of  which  committee  the  Com- 
missioner of  Public  Charities  should  be  asked  to  become 
an  additional  member  ex-officio,  which  committee  is  di- 
rected to  make  in  behalf  of  this  conference  an  investiga- 
tion of  all  matters  relating  to  the  care,  treatment  and 
relief  of  the  dependent  widows  with  dependent  children 
in  the  City  of  New  York,  and  report  as  soon  as  possible 
with  findings  and  recommendations  to  a  general  com- 
mittee made  up  of  those  who  were  invited  to  attend  the 
meeting  at  Mr.  Mulry's  office  on  Friday,  January  24, 
1913,  and  of  such  other  persons  as  may  be  added." 

Pursuant  to  the  resolution  adopted  at  the  meeting  of 
February  5,  the  chairman  of  the  executive  committee 
appointed  the  following  additional  members:  Messrs. 
Cornelius  N.  Bliss,  Jr.,  Edward  T.  Devine,  Homer  Folks, 
Lee  K.  Frankel,  Arthur  M.  Howe,  Michael  J.  Scanlan, 
Henry  B.  Seager,  Gaylord  S.  White,  Stephen  S.  Wise 
and  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Charities. 

The  executive  committee  thus  constituted  met  on 
Thursday,  Feb.  20,  1913,  and  decided  to  engage  as  execu- 
tive secretary  Mr.  Francis  H.  McLean.  It  was  not  until 
May  that  Mr.  McLean  was  able  to  lay  aside  the  work 
upon  which  he  was  engaged  and  assemble  his  staff  and 
begin  the  work  of  investigation.  Mr.  McLean  formulated 
a  plan  of  work  which  was  submitted  to  Messrs.  Devine, 
Frankel  and  Folks,  who  consented  to  act  as  a  special  com- 
mittee to  advise  with  the  executive  secretary. 

The  work  of  investigation  proceeded  throughout  the 
summer.  In  October  Mr.  McLean  presented  a  prelimi- 
nary report  of  the  work  done.  This  preliminary  report 
and  the  data  gathered  were  submitted  to  the  special  com- 


rnittee  for  review.    Many  questions  were  raised  and  the 
preliminary  report  was  searchingly  reviewed. 

In  December  the  special  committee  invited  Dr.  Edward 
T.  Devine,  one  of  their  number,  to  take  the  preliminary 
report  and  the  material  gathered  by  the  investigators 
and  review  it  with  a  staff  of  specially  selected  people 
of  large  experience  in  the  various  phases  of  the  prob- 
lem under  discussion  and  formulate  a  report  of  the  in- 
vestigation for  the  consideration  of  the  committee.  Dr. 
Devine  complied  reluctantly  with  the  request  and  after 
several  weeks  of  work  formulated  the  report  of  the  in- 
vestigators which  is  published  in  full  as  a  part  of  the 
report  of  this  committee.  He  was  assisted  by  Mr.  Henry 
W.  Thurston,  an  expert  on  children  and  children's  insti- 
tutions; Miss  Kate  Claghorn,  statistician;  Mr.  Porter 
B.  Lee,  who  has  had  long  experience  in  work  with  de- 
pendent families ;  Miss  Alice  C.  Mayer  of  the  New  York 
Association  for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor; 
Miss  Sarah  F.  Burrows,  district  superintendent  of  the 
Charity  Organization  Society  of  New  York;  Mr.  George 
W.  Babinoff  of  the  United  Hebrew  Charities ;  Miss  Mary 
Van  Kleeck  and  Miss  Mary  B.  Sayles  of  the  Bussell  Sage 
Foundation ;  Miss  Margaret  F.  Byington  of  the  Brooklyn 
Bureau  of  Charities ;  Miss  Lilian  Brandt  of  the  School  of 
Philanthropy;  and  Miss  Emilie  J.  Hutchinson  of  Bar- 
nard College. 

The  total  expenditures  of  the  committee  have  been 
slightly  less  than  $5000.  Of  this  sum  $2000  was  con- 
tributed by  the  Bussell  Sage  Foundation,  $500  by  Mr. 
Bobert  W.  de  Forest,  $100  by  Mr.  Otto  T.  Bannard. 
The  balance  of  the  expenses  of  the  committee  has  been 


financed  by  loans  which  it  is  expected  will  be  reimbursed 
to  the  lender  through  other  contributions. 

Subsequent  to  the  organization  of  this  committee  and 
the  beginning  of  its  work,  the  State  Legislature  passed 
a  bill  which  became  a  law  May  17,  1913,  establishing  a 
Commission  "to  inquire  into  the  subject  of  pensions  or 
other  relief  for  widowed  mothers." 

It  was  decided  to  continue  the  work  of  the  Committee 
and  to  be  of  as  much  service  as  possible  to  the  State  Com- 
mission. Various  members  of  our  committee  have  ap- 
peared before  the  State  Commission  on  their  invitation 
and  expressed  their  views  freely.  As  soon  as  completed, 
three  copies  of  the  report  of  our  investigators  were  sent 
to  the  State  Commission  for  their  information  and  use. 

The  committee  is  under  great  obligation  to  all  who, 
as  volunteers  or  employes,  have  faithfully  and  conscienti- 
ously endeavored  to  get  at  and  present  the  facts  of  this 
apparently  simple  but  really  much  involved  social  prob- 
lem. 

FRANK  TUCKER, 

Chairman. 
March  24,  1914. 


FINDINGS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS  OF  THE 
COMMITTEE 

Having  had  under  consideration  the  report  made  to 
it  by  its  investigators  as  interpreted  and  set  forth  by 
Dr.  Edward  T.  Devine  and  his  assistants,  which  is  ap- 
pended hereto  in  full,  the  committee  unites  in  the  follow- 
ing findings  and  recommendations : 

1.  The  committee  approves  the  suggestion  that  the 
fundamentally  important  aims  in  dealing  with  depend- 
ent widowhood  and  orphanage  should  be:    (1)  the  pre- 
vention of  such  conditions  by  prolonging  the  lives  and 
increasing  the  working  efficiency  of  men;   (2)   the  dis- 
tribution of  loss  due  to  sickness  and  death  of  working 
men  by  a  system  of  social  insurance;  and  (3)  effective 
vocational  training  and  guidance  of  children  reaching 
working  age. 

2.  The  committee  recognizes  the  fact  that  pending 
the  achievement  of  these  results  there  must  remain  a 
large  place  for  an  adequate  relief  system  and  a  wise 
relief  policy  in  dealing  with  widows  and  their  children. 
The  need  for  relief  will  undoubtedly  be  diminished,  but 
will  not  disappear  when  these  other  desirable  results 
enumerated  above  shall  have  been  secured. 

3.  The  committee  is  of    the  opinion    that  children 
should  not  be  removed  from  the  personal  care  of  their 
mothers  for  reasons  of  poverty  alone;  and  that,  when 
needed,  adequate  relief  should  be  given  to  enable  needy 
widows,  qualified  to  train  and  care  for  children,  to  keep 
their  children  at  home  and  to  train  and  care  for  them. 

4.  The  number  of  instances  in  which  at  the  present 
time  children  are  being  separated  from  their  mothers, 


in  violation  of  the  principle  stated  above,  is  not  as  large 
as  is  commonly  supposed.  The  Charities  Department 
committed  5,767  children  during  the  year  1912.  Of  these 
861  were  the  children  of  widows.  Of  these  861  children 
our  investigator  reports  that  190,  in  100  different  fami- 
lies, should  clearly  have  been  kept  at  home  with  their 
mothers,  aid  being  given.  Illness  on  the  part  of  mothers 
or  their  inability  to  control  young  children  was  recog- 
nized by  our  investigators  as  adequate  reasons  for  com- 
mitment. In  some  cases  such  illness  or  inability  to  con- 
trol may  have  resulted  from  absence  of  adequate  relief. 
It  is  possible,  therefore,  that  the  number  of  children  of 
widows  unwisely  committed  in  1912  may  have  been  some- 
what larger  than  190,  but,  in  any  case,  it  could  not  have 
been  much  larger. 

5.  That  190  children,  or  a  number  somewhat  larger 
than  this,  should  have  been  separated  from  their  mothers 
for  poverty  alone  during  1912  is  to  be  regretted.  It  indi- 
cates a  lack  of  complete  co-operation  and  effective  action 
between  the  bureaus  of  dependent  children  and  the  so- 
cieties giving  or  securing  relief.  The  bureaus  and  the 
societies  should  immediately  take  steps  to  prevent  the 
recurrence  of  this  undesirable  situation.  Nevertheless 
it  is  our  opinion  that  the  relief  of  widows  and  their  chil- 
dren in  this  city  is  more  nearly  adequately  performed 
by  the  societies  now  engaged  in  this  task  than  is  any 
one  of  the  important  duties  assumed  by  the  municipality 
or  the  State  in  the  care  of  dependent  classes  such  as,  for 
instance,  the  provision  of  sanatoria  and  hospitals  for  the 
tuberculous,  or  institutions  for  the  feeble-minded;  and 
is  also  more  nearly  adequate  than  is  the  relief  for  the 


poor  from  public  funds  in  most  of  those  localities  in 
which  public  outdoor  relief  still  exists. 

6.  The  number  of  children  committed  by  reason  of 
poverty  alone  is  small  in  comparison  with  the  number 
of  children  of  widows  already  under  the  care  of  and  re- 
ceiving aid  from  relief  societies.    The  proportionate  in- 
crease in  the  work  of  these  societies  involved  in  prevent- 
ing all  commitments  due  to  poverty  alone  would  not  be 
impossibly  large. 

7.  However,  both  in  caring  for  the  widows  and  their 
children  now  under  their  care  and  for  those  who  would 
be  brought  under  their  care  if  all  undesirable  commit- 
ments were  prevented,  it  is  recognized  that  a  larger  num- 
ber of  well  trained  agents  and  also  more  adequate  relief 
funds  are  needed. 

8.  While  a  reasonable  amount  of  work  outside  the 
home  may  be  expected  of  a  widow  whose  children  are 
not  of  such  numbers,  ages,  or  condition  as  to  require  her 
constant  presence  in  the  home,  concerted  effort  should 
be  made  to  see  that  she  is  not  overworked  as  to  number 
of  days;  nor  allowed  to  perform  labor  demoralizing  to 
health  or  character ;  nor  underpaid  because  she  is  forced 
to  accept  whatever  is  offered  in  the  way  of  employment. 

9.  We  are  not  able  to  state  from  the  investigation 
made  by  us,  even  approximately,  what  increase  would  be 
needed  in  the  resources  of  relief  societies  to  enable  them 
to  prevent  undesirable  commitments  and  to  care  ade- 
quately both  for  those  now  under  their  care  and  for  those 
who  are  now  being  unwisely  committed.     We  believe, 
however,  that  it  would  be  possible  to  make  a  reasonably 
close  approximation  of  the  sums  required. 


3 

10.  It  seems  to  us  desirable  that   the  societies  con- 
cerned should  promptly  make  an  inquiry  as  to  the  addi- 
tional sums  needed  by  them  to  enable  them  to  aid  ade- 
quately widows  and  their  children  needing  aid  in  this  city, 
and  should  endeavor  promptly  to  secure  assurance  that 
such  income  will  be  forthcoming  as  needed. 

11.  As  to  what  course  should  be  followed  if  the  so- 
cieties should  be  unable  to  secure  the  sum  needed,  the 
members  of  this  committee  are  divided  in  opinion.    Some, 
under  those  circumstances,  would  favor  the  establish- 
ment of  a  public  relief  system,  believing  that  the  possible 
evils  under  such  a  system  would  be  less  serious  than 
those  now  existing.    Others  would  oppose  the  establish- 
ment of  a  public  relief  system,  believing  that  its  evils 
would  outweigh  any  possible  advantages. 

Signed : 

FRANK  TUCKER,  Chairman 
CORNELIUS  N.  BLISS,  JR. 
EDWARD  T.  DEVINE 
LEE  K.  FRANKEL 
HOMER  FOLKS 
ARTHUR  M.  HOWE 
MICHAEL  J.  SCANLAN 
HENRY  R.  SEAGER 
GAYLORD  S.  WHITE 
JOHN  A.  KINGSBURY, 
Commissioner  of  Public  Charities 


REPORT  OF  THE  INVESTIGATION 

By 

EDWARD  T.  DEVINE 

[Bated  upon  material  gathered  by  Francis  H.  McLean,  Executive  Secretary  of  the  Committee 
and  a  Staff  of  Trained  Social  Workers] 

To  assemble  and  interpret  the  experience  of  philan- 
thropic and  other  social  agencies  in  New  York  City  in 
relation  to  the  relief  of  widows  with  young  children,  is 
the  purpose  of  this  report.  The  immediate  occasion  for 
its  preparation  is  that  certain  legislative  proposals 
have  been  made  and  are  under  consideration,  and  there 
has  been  shown  a  desire  in  several  societies  and  by  many 
individuals  for  a  sounder  basis  than  has  been  available 
for  deciding  what  attitude  to  take  towards  such  pro- 
posals. No  sooner  was  the  inquiry  undertaken,  how- 
ever, than  it  became  apparent  that  there  are  other  and 
stronger  reasons  for  it  than  are  to  be  found  in  any  such 
current  issues.  Widows'  pensions  are  at  best  intended 
to  be  only  a  partial  solution  for  a  problem  which  is  ur- 
gent and  complex.  This  problem  may  be  broadly  stated 
as  the  prevention  of  unnecessary  hardships  resulting 
from  widowhood  and  orphanage.  That  the  premature 
death  of  wage  earners  must  involve  great  hardships  is 
obvious;  but  if  these  are  more  grievous  than  is  neces- 
sary they  should  quite  as  obviously  be  lightened. 

For  this  investigation  the  statistical  method  is  ap- 
plicable only  to  a  very  limited  extent.  Whatever  confi- 
dence the  report  may  inspire  must  arise  mainly  from  the 
familiarity  of  those  who  have  worked  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  committee  with  the  subject  matter  with  which 
it  deals;  and  their  open  minded  attempt  to  secure  the 
unbiased  opinions,  conclusions,  and  impressions  of 
those  who  from  many  points  of  view  are  brought  into 


10 

contact  with  it.  This  report  is  in  no  sense  a  brief  for 
or  against  widows'  pensions;  nor  is  it  either  a  hostile 
criticism  or  an  advocate's  defense  of  the  charitable  so- 
cieties. On  the  contrary,  its  aim  is  to  present  an  impar- 
tial description  of  the  actual  situation  in  New  York  City ; 
and,  within  the  limits  of  what  such  a  report  can  wisely 
undertake,  to  discuss  some  of  the  elements  involved 
in  the  social  problem,  not  of  widows'  pensions  but  of 
widows'  needs. 

THE  SUBJECT  OF  INQUIRY 

Three  questions  may  be  formulated  clearly  from 
among  the  many  which  present  themselves  at  the 
threshold  of  the  inquiry: 

I.  Are  children  in  any  considerable  number  separated 
from  their  widowed  mothers,  to  become  public  charges  in 
institutions  or  foster  homes,  who  should  instead  be  kept 
at  home  with  their  mothers,  whatever  financial  assistance 
is  necessary  to  make  this  possible  being  supplied? 

II.  Are  widows  who  apply  to  one  of  the  charitable  so- 
cieties or  to  their  church  for  aid  receiving  proper  con- 
sideration  and   care?     Are   reasonable   plans   made   for 
them,  and  are  there  sufficient  resources  to  carry  such  plans 
into  effect? 

III.  Are  widows  who  are  obliged  to  earn  their  own  sup- 
port and  that  of  their  children,  in  whole  or  in  part,  work- 
ing under  reasonable  conditions?     Or  are  they,  by  any 
reasonable  standards,  overworked  and  underpaid? 

THE  RESULTS  OF  THE  INQUIRY 

Leaving  modifications  and  explanations  to  be  added 
in  later  pages  it  may  be  said,  summing  up  the  results  of 
the  inquiry: 


11 


I.  That  the  separation  of  children  from  good  mothers, 
well  qualified  to  care  for  them  at  home,  and  unable  to  do 
so  only  because  of  poverty  caused  by  the  father's  death, 
is  not  of  frequent  occurrence.     In  four-fifths  of  the  four 
hundred  and  sixty  families  from  which  children  were  re- 
ceived as  public  charges  in  the  calendar  year  1912  because 
of  the  father's  death,  there  were  demonstrable  conditions, 
such  as  serious  illness,  improper  guardianship,  mental 
deficiency  or  insanity,  which  made  it  appear  inadvisable 
for  the  children  to  remain  with  the  mother.     In  nearly 
or  quite  all  of  the  cases  in  which  the  children  should  have 
remained  at  home,  concerted  action  by  public  officials  and 
voluntary  agencies,  such  as  actually  occurs  daily  in  many 
cases,  could  probably  have  prevented  commitment. 

II.  That   the   charitable   societies   do  give   admirable 
care   in  many   cases  to  those   who   apply  to   them   for 
assistance;  that   they  have   a  high   and  constantly  im- 
proving standard  of  work  and  are  realizing  their  ideal  in 
an  increasing  proportion  of  the  families  whom  they  at- 
tempt to  aid ;  but  that,  if  the  actual  improvement  of  con- 
ditions in  the  families  be  the  test,  then  the  results  leave 
much  to  be  desired.     In  a  large  number  of  cases,  in  spite 
of  whatever  aid  is  given,  the  health  of  the  mother  or  of 
the  children  is  impaired,  and  progress  towards  genuine 
family  rehabilitation  does  not  take  place. 

III.  That,  as  far  as  the  self-support  of  widows  known 
to  the  charitable  societies  is  concerned,  the  conditions  of 
their  employment,  largely  because  of  their  limited  effi- 
ciency, and  the  resulting  limited  opportunities  open  to 
them,  can  be  described  only  as  unsatisfactory  in  the  ex- 
treme.    These  women  are  engaged  mainly  in  unskilled  oc- 
cupations in  which  the  wages  are  low,  the  hours  long,  the 
physical  strain  severe,  and  the  inducements  to  exceptional 
skill  or  efficiency  conspicuously  lacking. 


12 

SOURCES  AND  MATERIALS 

First  of  all  conferences  have  been  had  with  the  dis- 
trict secretaries,  supervisors,  agents,  and  visitors  of  the 
general  relief  agencies,  to  discover  the  actual  opinions, 
impressions,  and  conclusions  of  those  who  deal  at  first 
hand  with  the  difficult  and  intricate  family  problems  in- 
volved. Conferences  have  been  held  likewise  with 
groups  of  widows  in  various  parts  of  the  city,  and  finally 
with  principals  and  school  visitors,  and  with  social 
workers  in  settlements  and  other  agencies,  who,  not  as 
relief  workers,  but  from  other  and  different  points  of 
view,  gain  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  difficulties, 
hardships,  and  possibilities  presented  in  the  lot  of  the 
working  widow  in  New  York,  and  whose  opinions  of  the 
work  of  the  public  and  voluntary  relief  agencies  is  for 
this  reason  especially  instructive. 

An  examination  was  originally  made  of  1556  case 
records,  of  which  391  were  supplied  by  the  Charity  Or- 
ganization Society,  379  by  the  New  York  Association  for 
Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor.  278  by  the  United 
Hebrew  Charities,  300  by  the  Brooklyn  Bureau  of 
Charities,.  168  by  the  Brooklyn  Association  for  Improv- 
ing the  Condition  of  the  Poor,  and  40  by  the  United 
Jewish  Aid  Society  of  Brooklyn.  In  these  six  societies 
records  are  kept,  and  information  can  therefore  be  ob- 
tained as  to  the  conditions  in  the  families  and  the  action 
taken  by  the  societies.  These  fifteen  hundred  families 
constitute  a  majority  of  those  of  widows  with  small 
children  who  were  under  the  care  of  the  societies  named 
in  the  fiscal  year  1912.  The  salient  facts  from  the  case 
records  were  transferred  to  special  schedules  and  sub- 
jected to  special  analysis  and  an  attempt  at  statistical 
tabulation.  The  inquiry  is  necessarily  at  bottom,  how- 


13 

ever,  not  a  statistical  one,  but  rather  descriptive  and 
interpretative.  For  this  and  other  reasons  it  was  later 
decided  to  make  a  re-examination  of  three  hundred  of 
these  family  histories.  Complete  summaries  were  pre- 
pared of  these  three  hundred  records,  fifty  from  each  of 
the  six  societies,  taken  consecutively  as  they  happened  to 
come,  in  such  a  way  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  any 
attempt  to  make  a  favorable  or  an  unfavorable  showing 
of  the  work  of  any  particular  society. 

Case  records  never  tell  the  whole  story;  even  less  do 
brief  summaries  of  the  records  do  justice  to  the  influence 
of  the  visitor  on  the  families  under  her  care  and  the  sub- 
stantial results  which,  even  in  the  face  of  great  difficulties, 
are  achieved.  The  attempt  is  made  to  set  forth  as  fully 
and  accurately  as  possible  what  the  case  records  and  the 
conferences  taken  together  disclose  as  to  the  actual  situa- 
tion. There  have  been  constant  improvements  in  the  work 
of  all  the  societies  in  recent  years,  and  as  a  result  the  fami- 
lies under  care  in  1914  are  undoubtedly  receiving  more 
adequate  relief  and  more  effective  care  than  in  1912,  to 
which  year  the  impressions  and  conclusions  of  this  report 
mainly  refer.  As  a  result  of  changes  in  personnel  and 
consequent  changes  in  methods  this  would  be  especially 
true  of  the  Brooklyn  societies. 

An  examination  was  made  also  of  the  applications  for 
the  commitment  of  the  children  of  widows  at  the  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Charities,  both  in  Manhattan  and  Brook- 
lyn, in  the  calendar  year  1912.  It  was  found  that  there 
were  460  such  families  from  whom  children  were  re- 
ceived because  of  the  *  *  death  of  the  father. "  If  to  these 
had  been  added  the  widows'  families  from  among  those 
whose  children  were  committed  because  of  the  " illness 
of  the  mother,"  this  would  have  added  about  150  families. 


14 

The  purpose  of  this  inquiry,  however,  was  to  discover 
whether  children  were  committed  who  should  preferably 
have  remained  at  home  with  their  mothers.  The  analy- 
sis was  confined  to  the  460  families  just  mentioned,  since 
it  is  assumed  that  commitment  was  doubtless  advisable 
in  nearly  all  of  the  cases  in  which  there  was  no  father  in 
the  family  and  the  mother  was  incapacitated  by  illness. 
In  the  case  of  these  460  families  a  special  investigation 
was  made,  including  a  visit  to  the  family,  except  when 
this  was  made  unnecessary  by  the  fact  that  there  was 
available  both  the  official  record  in  the  Department  of 
Charities  and  a  family  record  in  some  one  of  the  chari- 
table societies. 

NO  "TYPICAL"  WIDOWS 

Prom  the  nature  of  the  study,  i.  e.,  of  widows  with 
small  dependent  children,  it  is  obvious  that  we  are  con- 
sidering families  in  which  there  has  been  a  premature 
death  of  the  father.  That  is  to  say,  the  ages  of  the 
mothers  and  of  the  children  testify  that  it  is  in  the  prime 
of  life  that  the  husbands  have  gone  to  their  graves.  This 
is  perhaps  almost  the  only  respect  in  which  these  fami- 
lies may  be  said  to  present  a  uniform  likeness  to  one 
another.  Everyone  has  in  mind  a  typical  mother  of 
fatherless  children,  but  the  most  striking  generalization 
to  be  made  from  this  study  is  that  there  is  in  fact  no 
such  type.  There  is  no  widow  about  whom  statements  of 
universal  applicability  can  confidently  be  made.  There 
are  Jewish  widows,  Italian  widows,  Irish  widows,  and 
widows  who  were  born  and  raised  in  New  York.  There 
are  capable  and  incapable,  strong  and  delicate  widows. 
There  are  widows  resourceful  as  the  sturdy  oak  and 
others  dependent  as  the  clinging  vine.  There  are  sober 


15 

widows  and  drunken  widows ;  angelic  widows  and  demons 
in  widows '  form ;  good  mothers  and  indifferent  mothers ; 
widows  who  are  infinitely  better  off  than  they  were  be- 
fore they  became  widows,  and  widows  whose  widowhood 
is  tragedy  and  pathos  beyond  telling. 

BEFORE  THE  HUSBAND'S  DEATH 

For  the  most  part  the  families  of  the  widows  who  ask 
for  aid  have  been  living  at  a  very  low  standard  before 
the  husband's  death.  In  many  instances  they  have  had 
charitable  assistance  in  his  last  illness,  and  such  assist- 
ance has  frequently  also  been  sought  in  previous  emer- 
gencies. The  wife  has  more  often  than  not  earned  a  part 
of  the  income  during  her  married  life.  An  interesting 
discovery  made  in  the  course  of  a  study  of  earning  women 
on  the  west  side  of  New  York  City*  is  that  the  occupations 
of  the  husbands  of  widows  working  in  that  neighborhood 
had  been  entirely  similar  in  general  character  to  the  occu- 
pations of  the  husbands  of  the  married  working  women. 
This  is  interpreted  to  mean  that  the  general  standard  of 
living  is  not  so  much  affected  by  the  death  of  the  male 
bread  winner  as  might  be  expected.  If  the  contrary 
were  the  case,  we  should  find  that  the  widows  working  by 
the  side  of  married  women  would,  before  the  death  of 
their  husbands,  have  belonged  to  families  of  a  higher 
economic  class.  For  example,  married  women  would  be 
the  wives  of  day  laborers,  while  widows  would  have  been 
the  wives  of  skilled  mechanics.  The  present  study  clearly 
confirms  the  above  impression.  In  exceptional  instances 
the  family  had  maintained  a  high  standard  during  the 
father's  life  time,  and  these  exceptional  instances  are 


*Mothers  Who  Must  Earn.     By  Katharine  S.  Anthony.     Forthcoming 
publication  of  the  Russell  Sage  Foundation. 


16 

apt  to  be  remembered  and  regarded  as  typical.  A  critical 
examination  of  the  records  discloses  that  before  his  death 
as  well  as  afterwards  the  income  had  usually  been  small 
and  irregular ;  sickness  and  misfortune  had  been  all  too 
common  visitors  in  these  families,  children  had  been 
ansemic  and  abnormal,  the  tenement  small  and  unsani- 
tary, and  savings  conspicuous  by  their  absence. 

The  occupations  and  wages  of  deceased  husbands 
were  ascertained  in  488  cases.  Of  these  men,  28  had 
been  earning  less  than  $8  a  week — four  of  these  because 
of  physical  incapacity  and  eight  because  of  some  mental 
or  moral  weakness  concerning  which  definite  knowledge 
was  obtainable;  238  had  been  earning  from  $8  to  $12  a 
week;  95  from  $13  to  $15;  84  from  $16  to  $20;  25  from 
$21  to  $25 ;  and  18  over  $25  a  week.  Those  who  earned 
from  $8  to  $12  a  week  were  by  no  means  all  in  what  are 
known  as  unskilled  trades.  Half  of  the  so-called  ' '  semi- 
skilled" and  one-third  of  the  "skilled"  workmen  were 
in  the  same  wage  earning  group.  These  figures,  al- 
though fragmentary,  indicate  that  the  wages  as  a  whole 
were  low,  and  that  the  representatives  of  the  skilled  and 
semi-skilled  trades  were  among  the  least  efficient  or  at 
least  the  lowest  paid,  in  their  trades.  This  would  also 
indicate  that  even  the  death  of  the  chief  breadwinner 
does  not  ordinarily  force  families  in  the  higher  wage 
groups  to  resort  to  relief  societies.  Apparently  the  bet- 
ter paid  wage  earners  do  to  a  large  extent  provide  for 
their  families  by  insurance  or  otherwise. 

CAUSE  OF  HUSBAND'S  DEATH 

From  the  families  included  in  the  above  studies  the 
cause  of  the  death  of  the  father  was  ascertained  in  1225 
cases.  Of  these  the  leading  cause  of  death  was  tuber- 


17 

culosis,  which  claimed  480,  or  nearly  forty  per  cent. 
Pneumonia  is  held  responsible  for  126  deaths,  heart  dis- 
ease for  109,  industrial  accidents  for  59,  other  accidents 
72,  cancer  46,  violence  35,  suicide  23,  typhoid  22,  insan- 
ity 25,  alcoholism  10.  Other  specific  diseases  appear  in 
a  great  variety  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  assimilate  to 
any  scientific  classification,  nor  would  there  be  any  ad- 
vantage in  the  attempt.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  record, 
however,  that  of  the  remaining  218  deaths  one  was  due 
to  an  execution  in  prison  and  one  to  lead  poisoning, 
or  painter's  colic. 

In  the  480  families  in  which  the  father  died  of  tuber- 
culosis, there  were  1287  children  under  fourteen.  In  the 
59  cases  of  fatal  industrial  injuries,  there  was  a  record 
of  a  satisfactory  settlement  in  only  four  cases.  Two  of 
these  provided  for  continuing  pensions.  A  third,  an 
iron  worker,  had  obtained  damages  of  $10,000.  In  the 
fourth  there  was  a  pension  allowance  but  the  amount  and 
length  of  its  continuance  were  not  ascertained.  There 
was  one  additional  small  pension  and  six  suits  for  dam- 
ages were  pending,  in  one  of  which  there  was  a  judgment 
of  $12,500  from  which  an  appeal  had  been  taken.  In 
more  than  three-fourths  of  the  deaths  which  occurred  in 
the  course  of  employment  the  family,  so  far  as  the  rec- 
ords indicate,  received  no  compensation  whatever.  Most 
of  these  would  apparently  have  come  under  the  new  com- 
pensation law  of  New  York  State,  insuring  to  the  widow 
from  30  to  66%  per  cent  of  her  husband's  wages  during 
the  whole  of  her  widowhood,  and  in  case  of  re-marriage 
for  two  years  additional. 


18 

INSURANCE 

Much  more  than  half  of  the  families  have  some  life 
insurance,  but  a  scant  dozen — less  than  one  per  cent- 
have  more  than  enough  to  meet  funeral  expenses  and  ac- 
cumulated petty  debts,  which  are  regarded  as  a  first 
claim  on  an  insurance  policy,  though  they  might  not  be 
so  legally.  While  life  insurance  may  therefore  be  said 
to  be  the  rule,  it  is  in  effect  generally  but  a  trifle  more 
than  burial  insurance.  In  the  few  instances  in  which  a 
sum  of  over  $500  is  available,  after  such  imperative  ex- 
penses are  met,  it  is  more  frequently  than  not  badly  in- 
vested and  quickly  lost.  A  change  of  system  by  which 
the  amount  of  the  insurance  would  be  commuted  into 
weekly  or  monthly  payments  over  at  least  one  or  two 
years,  while  adjustment  is  being  made  to  the  changed 
conditions,  would  be  clearly  beneficial. 

BETWEEN  HUSBAND'S  DEATH  AND  APPLICATOIN 

FOR  RELIEF 

Between  the  exhaustion  of  the  meagre  insurance  and 
application  to  a  charitable  society  there  is  often  a  period 
of  uncertain  duration  in  which  the  church  and  relatives 
display  their  maximum  generosity.  This  is  a  period  of 
anxious  experiment  in  various  directions,  of  readjust- 
ment and  important  decisions.  If  an  opportunity  for 
sound  advice  could  be  given  at  this  stage,  instead  of 
weeks  or  months  later  after  such  personal  resources  are 
exhausted,  there  would  be  a  better  chance  of  a  success- 
ful issue.  When  application  is  actually  made  the 
mother  is  apt  to  be  more  or  less  demoralized  by  un- 
certainty of  income  and  'other  circumstances  which  she 
is  ill  prepared  to  meet.  If  she  is  ambitious  and  has  a 


19 

mother's  normal  devotion  to  her  children,  she  may  be 
quite  worn  out  by  her  unguided  or  misdirected  efforts  at 
self-support.  If  of  a  hopeless  and  helpless  disposition, 
she  may  have  yielded  to  the  first  suggestion  that  her 
children  be  sent  to  a  home,  but  may  none  the  less  be 
yearning  to  have  them  with  her  again.  She  is  almost 
certainly  living  under  intolerable  conditions,  in  miser- 
able, dirty,  overcrowded,  underlighted,  and  underfur- 
nished  or  badly  furnished  rooms. 

WIDOWS  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY 

According  to  the  census  of  1910,  there  were  183,897 
widows  in  the  city  of  New  York,  of  whom  46,248  were 
under  forty-five  and  therefore  of  an  age  at  which  they 
might  have  small  children  dependent  upon  them.  Un- 
fortunately, although  the  information  is  contained  in  the 
original  population  schedules,  the  census  does  not  tell  us 
how  many  widows  actually  have  such  dependent  children. 
If  the  percentage  of  those  who  are  gainfully  employed  in 
1910  remained  the  same  as  in  1900  (27.1  per  cent),  there 
were  among  the  183,897  widows  50,939  who  were  more  or 
less  regularly  employed.  We  cannot,  of  course,  apply  this 
percentage  to  the  younger  widows,  as  statistics  on  this 
point  might,  and  probably  would,  show  marked  differ- 
ences in  various  age  groups.  Again,  however,  the  census 
informs  us  that  over  half  of  the  women  wage  earners  who 
were  widowed  or  divorced  were  heads  of  families.  Per- 
haps it  would  not  be  an  overestimate  to  assume  that  at 
least  one-half  of  the  50,939  working  widows  were  mothers 
of  dependent  children  below  the  working  age.  The  total 
number  of  widows  under  the  care  of  the  six  charitable 
societies  in  New  York  whose  records  we  have  been  study- 
ing, in  the  fiscal  year  1911-12,  was  5177.  This  is  less  than 


20 

three  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  widows  in  the  city 
and  a  little  over  ten  per  cent  of  the  number  of  those  gain- 
fully employed.  Of  the  widows  under  the  care  of  the 
societies,  many  who  are  supported  mainly  by  grown  chil- 
dren or  relatives,  and  others  who  are  admitted  to  homes 
or  hospitals,  are  not  employed,  so  that  the  number  of 
working  widows  known  to  these  six  societies  in  that  year 
may  be  put  down  as  between  three  and  ten  per  cent  of 
those  who  have  responsibility  for  their  own  and  their 
children's  support.  A  few  of  the  other  ninety  odd  per 
cent  may  apply  to  'other  charitable  societies  or  to  the  De- 
partment of  Public  Charities,  but  it  is  evident  that  an 
overwhelming  majority  were  taking  care  of  themselves, 
with  such  assistance  as  they  may  have  had  from  insur- 
ance, savings,  or  other  personal  resources. 

OCCUPATIONS  OF  WORKING  WIDOWS 

From  the  census  it  would  appear  that  working  women 
engage  in  a  great  variety  of  occupations.  In  some  of 
these  the  wages  of  women  are  sufficient  to  maintain  a 
decent  standard  of  living  for  a  family  and  the  hours  and 
conditions  of  labor  are  reasonable.  The  case  records  of 
the  charitable  societies  disclose  no  such  variety,  and  in 
the  employments  in  which  the  working  widows  known  to 
them  are  mainly  employed,  the  hours  and  conditions  of 
labor  are  for  the  most  part  unreasonable.  This  is  clear- 
ly one  of  the  most  important  and,  except  among  those  who 
have  attempted  to  find  suitable  employment  for  working 
mothers,  one  of  the  least  understood  factors  of  the  whole 
problem.  The  situation  which  exists  in  this  respect  may 
be  of  little  or  no  interest  to  those  who  take  the  extreme 
view  that  widows  with  children  should  not  be  expected  to 
work  at  all.  They  may  consistently  be  indifferent  to  the 


21 

details  of  the  employments  open  to  working  women.  No 
such  indifference,  however,  exists  among  working  women 
or  among  those  who  are  daily  engaged  in  helping  them, 
now  with  money  relief  and  now  in  finding  work,  accord- 
ing to  their  needs  and  strength.  To  the  mothers  them- 
selves it  seems  natural,  inevitable,  and  appropriate  that 
they  should  work.  Most  of  them  have  worked  before 
marriage,  many  of  them  have  worked  during  their  mar- 
ried life,  and  that  as  widows  they  should  earn  a  living 
for  themselves  and  children  is  simply  in  the  course  of 
nature,  an  obvious  and  unquestioned  obligation.  What 
they  feel  is  that  the  mother  should  work — not  of  course 
if  she  is  nursing  an  infant  in  arms,  or  about  to  be  con- 
fined, or  if  she  is  seriously  ill,  or  if  there  is  some  extra- 
ordinary demand  upon  her  in  the  home,  such  as  an  invalid 
child  demanding  constant  attention,  or  a  large  number  of 
very  young  children,  and  no  older  person  in  the  family 
to  look  after  them.  Working  mothers  have  real  hard- 
ships and  grievances,  but  that  an  able  bodied  woman  un- 
der forty,  with  one  'or  two  children,  should  be  expected  to 
earn  a  large  part  or  all  of  her  support,  is  not  one  of  them. 
Even  when  there  are  three  or  four  children  the  mother 
would  generally  scout  the  idea  that  she  could  not  earn 
their  living  if  she  is  given  a  fair  chance.  Of  course  if 
they  are  of  an  age  requiring  constant  oversight,  it  is  not 
desirable  that  she  should,  unless  there  is  s'ome  one  at 
hand  to  care  for  them.  Not  the  necessity  of  earning, 
however,  but  the  difficulty  of  finding  work,  is  what  is  more 
apt  to  cause  her  anxiety. 

BY  NATIONALITIES 

Looking  more  closely  at  the  occupations  in  which  the 
working  widows  in  these  families  are  engaged  we  find 


22 

that  they  are  mainly  characterized  by  long  hours,  severe 
physical  strain,  and  either  low  wages  or  exceeding  irregu- 
larity and  uncertainty  of  employment.  The  Italian  widow, 
finishing  pants,  working  excessively  long  hours,  often 
with  the  help  of  children,  may  clear  three  or  four  dollars 
a  week.  If  she  goes  out  to  day's  work  in  some  family  in 
the  tenements  but  little  better  off  than  herself  she  may 
get  fifty  cents  for  a  day's  washing.  The  Russian  Jewish 
widow  may  finish  garments  at  home  for  about  the  same 
wages  as  those  of  the  Italian ;  or  go  out  peddling,  at  which 
for  a  shorter  day  the  earnings  may  be  four  or  five  dol- 
lars a  week ;  or  keep  roomers,  with  the  inevitable  results 
of  an  overcrowded  apartment.  The  Bohemian  widow  is 
apt  to  work,  as  before  her  marriage,  in  cigar  factories, 
earning  when  skilled  eight  or  ten  dollars  a  week,  or  more 
in  exceptional  cases.  The  Greek  widow  is  more  likely  to 
be  found  in  a  candy  shop,  again  at  factory  wages.  Irish 
and  German  widows  are  more  generally  inclined  to  do 
office  cleaning  or  day's  work, — washing,  ironing,  and 
cleaning — for  which  the  usual  pay  is  now  a  dollar  and  a 
half  a  day,  sometimes  with  carfare,  usually  with  food  in 
addition;  but  this  work  at  such  pay  for  the  women  of 
whom  we  speak  is  scarce,  and  for  the  maximum  pay 
women  who  come  in  for  the  day  are  often  expected  to  do 
a  heavy  washing  and  ironing,  sometimes  with  scrubbing 
of  floors  and  cleaning  of  windows  between. 

RESTRICTED   OPPORTUNITIES 

Thus  widows  who  ask  for  aid  are  apparently  restricted 
in  their  occupations  mainly  to  finishing  work  in  the  needle 
trades;  office  cleaning  and  similar  work  in  theatres, 
stores,  and  other  public  buildings ;  and  days '  work,  con- 
sisting either  of  washing  and  ironing  done  at  home  or 


23 

washing  and  ironing  and  cleaning  in  the  home  of  the 
employer.  The  restriction  to  these  occupations  is  clearly 
for  two  main  reasons.  They  demand  only  a  low  grade 
of  efficiency,  and  they  do  not  demand  the  regular  hours 
of  an  ordinary  office  or  factory  working  day.  They  are 
unorganized  and  unsupervised  employments.  Neither 
trade  union  nor  factory  inspector  controls  them.  There 
is  no  standard  public  opinion  in  regard  to  them.  In  re- 
turn for  the  privilege  of  having  some  free  time  each  day, 
or  some  free  days  each  week,  the  working  mother  pays 
a  price  which  is  exorbitant,  partly  because  there  is  no 
available  means  of  measuring  it. 

The  fundamental  objections  to  home  work,  when  a 
'  'home"  means  a  New  York  flat  of  two  or  three  rooms  full 
of  lodgers  and  children,  are  so  serious  as  to  have  led  to 
the  demand  for  its  total  abolition  on  grounds  of  health 
and  morals.  The  police  power  of  the  state  has  already 
been  invoked  to  this  end,  and  the  transfer  of  all  factory 
work  to  factories,  which  can  be  properly  supervised,  in 
which  rational  sanitary  standards  can  be  maintained,  and 
in  which  wages  can  be  determined  at  least  under  public 
scrutiny,  is  now  only  a  matter  of  time.  Washing  and 
ironing  which  is  taken  away  from  the  home  will  probably 
eventually  be  treated  as  factory  work.  This  is  not  at  all 
inconsistent  with  a  movement  in  the  contrary  direction 
which  may  eventually  increase  the  amount  of  remunera- 
tive domestic  occupations, — for  example,  through  the  de- 
velopment of  cooperative  house  keeping,  or  through  the 
organization  of  specialized  service  by  the  hour,  including 
all  types  of  workers  from  cleaners  (with  work  trans- 
formed by  science)  to  efficiency  engineers. 

The  bearing  of  this  on  our  present  subject  is  that  it 
is  precisely  in  the  families  of  the  widows  who  need  help 


24 

that  the  severest  pressure  is  felt  from  the  present  un- 
regulated, irregular,  and  underpaid  employment. 

THE  THREE  OCCUPATIONS 

The  finishing  work  done  at  home  is  hard  because  of 
the  excessively  long  hours  necessary  to  earn  anything  at 
all.  It  is  dangerous  because  of  the  opportunity  which 
it  gives  to  work  and  overwork  young  children.  It  has 
all  the  disadvantages  of  isolation  on  the  part  of  the  oper- 
ative and  utter  lack  of  knowledge  as  to  the  conditions  of 
the  employment  on  the  part  of  the  public. 

Office  cleaning  and  some  other  work  of  charwomen 
is  hard  because  of  the  back-breaking,  knee-destroying 
positions  which  it  demands ;  because  of  the  indecency  of 
requiring  women  on  hands  and  knees  to  clean  up  the  ex- 
pectorations, the  cigar  stubs,  the  tracked-in-mud  and 
other  refuse  of  those  who  come  and  go  in  public  halls  and 
stairways;  because  of  the  often  exceedingly  inconven- 
ient division  of  the  working  day  into  two  parts;  and 
finally,  because  women  employed  in  this  work  are  paid 
less  than  men  cleaners.  The  wages  paid  vary  consider- 
ably, and  there  are  some  large  office  buildings  in  which 
every  consideration  is  given  to  the  home  demands  upon 
the  women,  not  only  in  adjusting  their  hours,  but  in 
determining  wages.  It  is  true  also  that  numerous  un- 
successful attempts  have  been  made  to  devise  mechanical 
means  of  doing  this  cleaning,  and  that,  temporarily  at 
least,  it  would  be  a  great  hardship  to  many  earning 
mothers  if,  by  the  success  of  such  attempts,  this  kind 
of  employment  should  be  eliminated.  But  it  is  not  un- 
likely that  the  substitution  of  mechanical  cleaners  would 
be  greatly  expedited  if  superintendents  of  buildings  were 


25 

no  longer  able  to  employ  six  women  for  the  price  of 
three  men.* 

Going  out  for  day's  work  in  families  that  can  afford 
to  pay  a  dollar  and  a  half  a  day  is,  on  the  whole,  the  most 
popular  occupation  open  to  these  women.  Such  oppor- 
tunities exist  largely  because  of  the  transitional  and  un- 
satisfactory conditions  of  domestic  service  as  a  whole. 
But  they  are  constantly  interrupted  by  the  migration  of 
employers  in  the  summer  and  by  their  desire  for  economy, 
as  shown  by  having  the  washing  done  only  once  in  two 
weeks  in  the  winter,  or  by  asking  the  employee  unexpect- 
edly to  leave  in  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  perhaps  after 
finishing  the  washing  and  ironing,  so  as  to  save  one-third 
of  the  day's  wages.  There  is  a  brighter  side  in  the  rela- 
tion which  often  springs  up  between  the  families  thus 
brought  into  contact.  Frequently  it  becomes  one  of  mu- 
tual respect  and  even  intimate  acquaintance.  The  gifts 
of  clothes,  food,  etc.,  which  go  along  with  the  day's  pay 
for  such  work  frequently  become  an  important  item  in  the 
working  mother's  income,  and  instances  occur  in  which 
favors  quite  as  readily  flow  in  the  other  direction.  This 
kind  of  friendly  visiting  and  personal  service  is  one  of 
the  distinct  offsets  to  the  generally  chaotic,  irregular,  and 
uncertain  conditions  in  this  particular  field  of  employ- 
ment. 

ECONOMIC  INEFFICIENCY 

Taking  these  occupations,  howrever,  as  a  whole,  the 
worst  thing  about  them  is  that  they  are  the  occupations 

*Miss  Anthony  (see  foot-note,  page  8)  recites  the  testimony  of  a 
superintendent  who  had  tried  a  machine  to  scrub  floors  which  he  dis- 
carded because  it  would  not  clean  corners,  and  because  it  took  three  men 
to  manage  it.  He  put  six  women  in  their  place  and  the  work  is  better 
done  without  the  machine 


26 

of  relatively  unskilled  and  inefficient  workers,  and  the 
worst  thing  to  be  said  about  the  workers  is  that  they  are 
for  the  most  part  fit  for  no  other  kind  of  employment. 
They  are  untrained,  inefficient,  industrially  unfit.  No 
employment  agency  would  be  justified  in  putting  them  in 
skilled  occupations,  even  if  they  were  to  be  had.  No 
employer  who  demands  and  is  ready  to  pay  for  competent 
work  would  keep  them  even  if  they  came.  This  general 
lack  of  competency  is  not  confined  to  the  widows,  but  was 
shared,  as  we  have  shown,  by  their  deceased  husbands. 
Probably  it  cannot  be  very  much  modified  in  the  adult 
generation,  but  it  is  a  very  serious  question  whether  it 
is  to  be  perpetuated  in  the  next  generation.  Of  the  fact 
that  one  of  the  chief  reasons  for  the  inability  of  this 
group  of  families  to  care  for  themselves  in  their  widow- 
hood as  well  as  do  the  large  number  of  working 
widows  who  remain  independent  is  their  economic  in- 
efficiency, no  one  who  examines  the  case  records  with  an 
open  mind,  or  who  confers  with  the  social  workers  who 
have  investigated  and  aided  the  families,  can  remain  in 
doubt.*  The  charitable  societies  are  dealing  with  persons 
whose  labor  in  the  open  market  has  very  little  produc- 
tiveness, who  not  only  have  not  had  specific  training  in 
particular  trades,  but  have  not  learned  how  to  work  or 
to  protect  their  interests  as  workers.  To  change  these 
conditions  is  not  within  the  function  or  the  power  of 
the  charitable  societies.  Education  and  industry  must 
bear  that  responsibility. 

*Qne  of  the  societies  has  undertaken  to  train  some  of  their  women  and 
provide  fairly  remunerative  work  for  them  at  shirt  and  necktie  making 
in  a  sanitary,  well>-equipped  work  shop.  A  number  of  women  who  had 
formerly  not  worked  at  all  or  had  been  engaged  in  unskilled  work  at 
meagre  and  irregular  wages  are  now  earning  between  $12  and  $17  per 
week. 


VOCATIONAL    GUIDANCE    FOR    WIDOWS'    CHIL- 
DREN 

The  records  of  the  societies  do  not  show  sufficient 
evidence  of  serious  and  practical  interest  in  the 
choice  of  an  occupation  as  the  children  come  of  work- 
ing age  or  in  securing  specific  preparation  for  a 
suitable  occupation.  If  the  boys  and  girls  are  not 
to  repeat  the  experience  of  their  parents  or  even 
to  fall  short  of  their  level,  they  must  obviously  be 
encouraged,  and  if  necessary  aided,  to  get  into  occupa- 
tions in  which  there  is  apprenticeship,  opportunity  for 
learning  how  to  work,  personal  interest  on  the  part  of 
employers  or  foremen  or  fellow  workers,  that  will  lead 
to  the  steady  development  of  ability  and  increasingly 
satisfactory  adjustment  between  the  worker  and  his  em- 
ployment. The  safeguarding  of  vocational  interests  of 
individual  members  of  the  family  is  the  most  important 
single  service  which  can  be  given  them.  Vocational  guid- 
ance may  ultimately  be  expected  from  the  public  school 
system.  Even  the  actual  teaching  of  a  trade  or  prepara- 
tion for  commercial  positions  may  become  the  rule.  So 
long,  however,  as  such  facilities  are  as  rare  as  they  are 
at  present  and  limited  mainly  to  high  school  grades,  there 
will  be  urgent  need  of  giving  increased  attention  to  the 
exceptional  danger  that  in  these  families  of  working 
widows  the  interests  of  the  children  will  be  completely 
sacrificed,  that  they  will  go  into  occupations  in  which 
the  only  inducements  are  an  immediate  wage  to  replace 
or  supplement  the  mother's  earnings.  The  importance 
of  such  service  has  been  appreciated  but  recently  and 
the  charitable  societies,  occupied  with  more  obvious 
wants,  have  given  scant  attention  to  vocational  guidance ; 
but  the  rising  standard  of  service  set  by  them  does  in- 


28 

elude  it.  They  are  staunch  upholders  of  child-labor 
laws,  but  they  rarely  extend  aid  to  permit  children  to  ob- 
tain vocational  training  after  they  reach  working  age. 

RESPONSIBILITY  OF  INDUSTRY  AND  OF  THE 
SCHOOL  SYSTEM 

This  grievance  is  one  of  which  thinking  widows  them- 
selves complain  far  more  bitterly  than  of  any  hardships 
in  their  own  employment.  That  their  children,  as  they 
come  of  working  age,  should  inevitably  be  pushed  into 
occupations  in  which  there  is  no  future,  no  chance  for 
promotion,  no  investment  of  the  valuable  early  years 
in  such  a  way  as  to  yield  returns  in  later  life,  is  an  ex- 
perience not  limited  to  widows,  but  one  in  which  the 
likelihood  is  increased  in  their  case  by  the  need  felt  for 
a  maximum  income  from  their  earnings  at  the  earliest 
possible  moment.  However,  the  mothers  are  quick  to 
see  the  price  which  they  pay  for  this  relief.  They  would 
willingly  enough  work  even  harder  than  they  do  and 
make  greater  sacrifices  if  this  could  result  in  securing 
permanent  and  reasonably  remunerative  work  for  their 
children  with  the  prospect  of  advancement.  There  is 
no  difficulty  about  finding  jobs  for  the  young  boys  and 
girls  just  leaving  school,  but  they  are  useless  jobs,  except 
from  the  point  of  view  of  immediate  income.  Boys  and 
girls  are  going  into  these  useless  jobs  and  the  community 
has  invented  no  adequate  protection  against  this  un- 
social and  uneconomic  demand.  The  old  apprenticeship 
system  is  gone,  but  it  is  for  education  or  industry  to 
discover  a  substitute.  Practical  vocational  and  half  time 
schools  through  which  children  as  they  reach  working 
age  can  be  adjusted  to  industry  and  trade  may  prove  to 
be  such  a  substitute.  Public  pensions  and  voluntary  re- 


29 

lief  are  alike  impotent  to  solve  the  problems  of  industry 
and  education. 

HEALTH 

As  might  be  anticipated,  the  records  of  the  societies 
and  conferences  with  social  workers  reflect  the  increased 
public  interest  of  recent  years  in  the  subject  of  health. 
Indeed,  most  of  the  societies  in  question  have  themselves, 
through  their  tenement  house  committees,  tuberculosis 
committees,  fresh  air  activities,  and  in  other  ways,  dis- 
tinctly taken  the  lead  in  that  educational  campaign  for 
the  prevention  of  disease  to  which  the  increased  interest 
on  the  part  of  the  public  is  so  largely  due.  The  gratify- 
ing decline  in  the  death  rate  in  New  York  City  is  coin- 
cident with  these  constructive  social  movements  in  which 
the  charitable  societies  have  taken  so  active  a  part,  and 
to  them,  as  to  the  increasing  efficiency  of  the  public 
health  service,  a  large  part  of  the  credit  for  this  signal 
accomplishment  is  due. 

The  question  naturally  arises  as  to  whether  this  in- 
terest in  the  public  health  is  translated  in  practice  into 
an  effective  interest  in  the  health  of  the  widows  and 
their  children  as  shown  by  the  case  records  examined. 
Such  effective  interest  is  frequently,  although  not  by  any 
means  uniformly,  shown.  In  many  cases  excellent  work 
is  done  to  secure  proper  diagnosis,  and  appropriate 
treatment.  Sometimes  persistent  attention  is  given  to  a 
health  problem  over  a  period  of  several  years.  Often 
large  sums  of  money  are  expended  to  provide  necessary 
convalescent  or  sanatorium  care.  One  society  has  a 
physician  in  constant  attendance  at  its  own  offices  to 
make  a  diagnosis  on  the  spot  of  all  cases  in  which  dis- 


30 

ease  is  suspected.  Another  has  a  home  hospital  in  which 
a  few  of  the  families  threatened  by  tuberculosis  are 
taken  completely  in  charge  at  an  average  expense  of 
$1000.00  a  year  for  each  family,  all  of  which  is  provided 
if  necessary  from  charitable  sources,  in  addition  to  the 
expert  and  professional  service  required.  Others  com- 
mand a  large  amount  of  volunteer  medical  service  from 
members  of  district  committees  and  other  physicians, 
and  all  of  them  make  daily  use  of  dispensaries  and  other 
health  services.  One  society  maintains  a  corps  of  thirty 
trained  nurses  who  visit  and  nurse  the  sick  poor.  The 
idea  may  be  said  to  be  generally  accepted  that  inquiries 
about  health  should  be  made,  that  those  who  seem  to  re- 
quire medical  attention  and  are  not  receiving  it  shall 
be  examined  and  advised,  that  obviously  suitable  candi- 
dates for  hospital  and  dispensary  care  shall  be  taken  or 
urged  to  go  for  such  treatment,  and  that  the  relief  pol- 
icy adopted  shall  be  influenced  by  health  considerations. 
In  other  words,  immediate  and  obvious  health  needs 
usually — though  not  always — receive  attention. 

More  fundamental  health  needs  are  however,  it  must 
be  said,  often  neglected.  Vigorous  action  is  not  always 
taken  to  carry  out  competent  advice  after  it  is  obtained. 
Mothers  are  allowed  to  work  when  it  would  be  quite  ap- 
propriate to  provide  such  an  amount  of  relief  as  would 
make  the  employment  unnecessary.  Of  course,  the 
charitable  societies  cannot  be  held  responsible  for  all  the 
serious  or  petty  illnesses  in  the  families  under  their 
care.  Tuberculosis  and  typhoid  fever  appear  in  well-to- 
do  homes  also,  and  conditions  inimical  to  health,  such  as 
too  frequent  pregnancies  and  overwork,  have  been  pres- 
ent long  before  the  husband's  death  or  other  special  mis- 
fortune brought  them  to  the  notice  of  the  societies. 


31 

Nevertheless,  when  instances  are  found  in  which  the  rec- 
ords themselves  bear  evidence  that  anaemic,  under- 
nourished children  fail  to  receive  special  care,  that  no 
attempt  is  made  to  follow  up  and  remedy  some  well  rec- 
ognized dangerous  condition,  that  eyes,  or  teeth,  or 
adenoids  are  neglected,  that  prevention  of  disease  and 
the  upbuilding  of  physical  vigor  and  resisting  power  is 
left  almost  wholly  out  of  the  plan  for  the  family,  there 
is  certainly  room  for  drastic  criticism. 

It  is  pertinent  to  call  attention  in  this  connection  to 
the  extraordinary  change  in  public  appreciation  of  health 
needs.  Perhaps  it  is  hardly  an  exaggeration  to  say  that 
the  health  of  the  children  in  the  tenements,  including 
the  children  of  the  families  here  under  consideration, 
does  actually  receive  more  effective  attention  than  was 
ordinarily  given  to  the  health  of  the  children  of  well-to- 
do  families  a  generation  ago.  In  this  advance  the  char- 
itable societies  have  played  a  distinguished  part;  but 
these  ideals  have  outmn  the  best  efforts  of  the  best  so- 
cieties. Judged  by  this  new  standard  of  public  opinion, 
and  by  the  highest  standards  of  organized  charity  itself, 
there  is  no  one  of  the  six  societies  whose  records  do  not 
show  instances  of  failure  to  anticipate  the  inevitable  re- 
sults of  unduly  severe  physical  strain  on  the  mother  and 
an  inadequate  income.  In  every  society  there  are  cases 
in  which  knowledge  of  what  is  needed  failed  to  issue  in 
doing  what  is  needed.  While  they  share  the  responsibility 
with  others,  including  the  families  immediately  con- 
cerned, they  cannot  escape  the  responsibility  for  having 
failed,  as  shown  by  their  own  case  records,  to  go  as  far 
as  they  should  have  gone  in  many  instances.  It  is  true 
that  there  is  often  a  lamentable  failure  on  the  part  of 
the  patient  to  realize  the  need  of  treatment,  reluctance 


32 

to  accept  advice,  and  even  stubborn  opposition  to  the 
most  necessary  and  urgent  action.  Another  difficulty  is 
that  when  forcible  removal  would  be  desirable,  the  city 
authorities  may  refuse  to  act  or  to  carry  out  consistently 
even  their  own  decision  that  removal  is  justified.  Pre- 
ventorium  care  for  the  young  children  in  dose  connec- 
tion with  sanatoria  for  mothers  might  in  many  instances 
overcome  the  reluctance  of  the  latter  to  leaving  home. 
To  give  a  pension  or  relief  at  home  is  to  accept  a  mea- 
sure of  responsibility  for  a  recognized  dangerous  condi- 
tion, and  to  withhold  relief  in  the  absence  of  reasonable 
institutional  provision  seems  uncharitable. 

LACK  OF  INSTITUTIONAL  FACILITIES 

In  justice  to  the  societies  and  to  the  families  it  must 
be  recorded  that  neither  the  state  nor  private  philan- 
thropy has  by  any  means  as  yet  provided  adequately  for 
the  institutions  and  agencies  of  various  kinds  which  are 
imperatively  demanded  if  health  needs  are  to  be  met. 
For  the  feeble-minded,  the  crippled,  the  infirm,  and  the 
convalescent  there  is  not  sufficient  provision.  We  have 
not  enough  hospitals  for  those  who  have  contagious 
diseases  or  even  for  those  who  are  afflicted  by  tuber- 
culosis, notwithstanding  all  the  efforts  which  have  been 
put  forth  in  recent  years  to  supply  the  latter  deficiency. 
Again  and  again  special  treatment  of  one  kind  or  another 
is  prescribed  or  quickly  discovered  by  the  visitor  to  be 
needed,  but  because  of  the  lack  of  any  provision  for  the 
treatment  it  cannot  be  secured.  Almost  every  type  of 
institution  is  indeed  represented;  but  that  is  not  enough. 
So  far  as  the  individual  needing  care  is  concerned,  an 
institution  without  vacancies  is  of  course  precisely  as 


33 

good  as  no  institution  at  all.     The  pressing  problem  is 
quantitative. 

Although  this  lack  of  community  facilities  extends  to 
education,  recreation  and  amusements,  day  nursuries, 
employment  agencies,  loan  agencies,  protective  meas- 
ures for  young  girls,  and  many  other  fields,  it  is  after 
all  in  the  cure  and  prevention  of  disease  that  the  lack  is 
most  obvious  and,  in  view  of  the  large  sums  now  annually 
spent  for  the  public  health,  least  excusable.  It  is  not 
easy  to  get  intelligent,  conscientious  medical  treatment. 
Some  dispensaries  on  which  reliance  must  be  placed 
make  the  most  superficial  examination  of  patients  and 
provide  no  method  of  following  up  their  diagnosis  or 
prescription.  It  is  impossible  to  arrive  at  an  accurate 
understanding  of  the  health  needs  of  a  family  through 
such  facilities  for  diagnosis  as  are  provided  by  many  of 
the  medical  agencies.  When  a  careful  examination  has 
been  secured  from  a  physician  in  private  practice,  or 
from  a  medical  member  of  the  staff,  or  even  from  the 
dispensary  itself,  it  is  rarely  that  such  a  diagnosis  can 
be  followed  by  effective  treatment.  In  many  records  it 
is  definitely  stated  that  there  is  need  for  convalescent 
care  which  cannot  be  secured  because  there  is  no  vacancy 
in  an  appropriate  convalescent  home,  and  a  visit  to  the 
country  or  seashore  would  not  meet  the  need.  Even 
more  serious  is  the  lack  of  coordination  between  medical 
agencies  which  are  simultaneously  or  successively  treat- 
ing a  particular  patient.  The  excellent  plan  devised  for 
the  tuberculosis  clinics  is  obviously  needed  in  every  other 
department. 


34 

HOUSING 

Fundamental  as  a  community  health  need  is  that  for 
good  homes,  with  real  light,  fresh  air,  accessibility,  and  a 
reasonable  rental.  Through  their  tenement  house  com- 
mittees, tuberculosis  committees,  and  otherwise,  the  socie- 
ties have  constantly  emphasized  this  fact.  They  have 
secured  the  passage  of  tenement  house  laws  which  make 
the  evil  conditions  of  even  ten  years  ago  impossible. 
These  splendid  educational  campaigns  impose  a  new  re- 
sponsibility on  the  societies  themselves  as  relief  agencies, 
a  responsibility  which  they  do  not  fully  meet.  Many  of 
the  families  studied  are  living  in  wholly  unsuitable  tene- 
ments, plainly  described  in  the  records  as  such,  but  for 
lack  of  better  accommodations  at  a  possible  price,  or  for 
lack  of  funds  to  pay  higher  rents,  serious  attempt  at  im- 
provement is  out  of  the  question. 

Notwithstanding  the  difficulties,  it  is  likely  that  a  more 
clearly  defined  policy,  including  a  readiness  to  move 
families  some  distance  from  their  present  location  when 
there  are  no  strong  local  ties  binding  them  to  it,  might 
result  in  a  considerable  improvement.  Eents  have  in- 
creased, and  the  societies,  if  they  are  to  provide  adequate 
relief  in  this  respect,  must  take  this  fact  even  more  fully 
into  account.  Paying  rent  in  congested  quarters  or  un- 
sanitary rooms  tends  to  lower  instead  of  raising  the  stan- 
dard of  living.  Serious  attempts  have  been  made  to  sub- 
stitute a  contrary  policy — one  society  having  obtained 
funds  for  this  purpose — but  this  requires  larger  financial 
resources  than  have  ordinarily  been  available. 

EMERGENT  RELIEF 

Emergent,  temporary,  and  what  is  sometimes  called 
interim  relief  i.  e.,  relief  given  to  meet  immediate  needs 


35 

while  an  investigation  is  in  progress  upon  which  more 
permanent  plans  can  be  based,  is  supplied  by  all  of  the 
six  charitable  societies,  sometimes  in  a  rather  erratic  way 
and  in  not  very  appropriate  form,  but  as  a  rule  in  such 
an  amount  and  kind  as  to  prevent  suffering  from  lack  of 
food,  clothing,  fuel,  or  shelter.  From  the  point  of  view 
of  the  community  more  than  this  is  desirable.  It  is  de- 
sirable that  similar  needs  in  different  families  shall  be 
met  with  some  approach  to  consistency ;  that  there  should 
be  some  degree  of  uniformity  and  standardized  relief 
among  the  general  relief  societies.  In  these  days  of 
effective  cooperation  in  much  larger  matters  it  should 
not  be  necessary  to  examine  the  records  or  six  or  more 
different  societies  in  order  to  find  out  what  kind  and 
amounts  of  relief  are  given  to  those  who  require  emer- 
gent aid.  Even  these  six  societies  represent  only  the 
agencies  which  because  of  their  system  of  records  could 
be  conveniently  studied.  If  the  inquiry  had  extended  to 
the  numerous  religious,  national,  and  special  relief  agen- 
cies of  various  kinds,  the  diversity  of  methods  and  of 
standards  would  have  been  found  vastly  greater  and  the 
evidence  of  the  resulting  confusion  and  uncertainty  as  to 
what  would  happen  in  any  given  case  of  need  correspond- 
ingly increased.  This  variability  in  the  amount  of  relief 
given  is  of  course  better  than  rigid  uniformity,  when  it 
means  special  adaptation  to  particular  needs,  or  even 
when,  in  the  exercise  of  sound  judgment,  less  relief  is 
given  than  usual  in  order  that  a  stronger  motive  may  re- 
main for  putting  forth  increased  effort  towards  self 
support.  But  when  the  variability  is  arbitrary,  having 
no  relation  to  plan  or  needs  but  depending  only  on  con- 
siderations subjective  to  the  relief  agency,  it  is  only  an 


36 

indication  of  a  lamentable  lack  of  mutual  understanding 
and  intelligence. 

It  remains  true  that  all  of  the  societies  do  give  relief 
promptly  in  cases  of  emergent  need,  and  this  is  given 
in  whatever  form  seems  to  the  particular  society  most 
suitable.  It  is  not  true  that  those  who  ask  for  aid  are 
left  to  starve,  or  to  suffer  other  preventable  hardships, 
while  long  drawn  inquiries  are  made  about  them.  Inves- 
tigations in  fact  in  some  societies  are  less  thorough  and 
careful  than  is  desirable,  their  apparent  purpose  being 
to  detect  fraud  rather  than  to  lay  the  basis  for  a  sound 
decision  as  to  what  action  should  be  taken.  The  pioneer 
agencies  in  developing  a  technique  of  more  thorough 
investigation  and  a  course  of  treatment  logically  based 
upon  it  are  the  charity  organization  societies,  whose 
methods  in  this  respect  are  now  in  use  in  all  of  these 
societies  in  varying  degrees  of  efficiency.  Even  greater 
thoroughness  and  a  more  careful  and  painstaking  plan 
of  action  at  the  time  of  first  application  than  now  gen- 
erally prevail  would  be  desirable  and  would  save  a  vast 
amount  of  subsequent  work,  after  the  best  opportunity 
has  passed.  This  applies  preeminently  to  the  families 
of  widows  with  small  children,  for  whom  continued  aid 
is  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception. 

PERMANENT   RELIEF 

We  now  come  to  the  subject  which  many  will  perhaps 
regard  as  the  crux  of  the  problem,  the  continued  relief 
supplied  to  those  families  of  widows  who  because  of  ill- 
ness, or  the  number  of  their  children,  or  any  other  rea- 
son, require  regular  and  substantial  assistance.  All  of 
the  six  societies  undertake  to  do  this  according  to  their 
means.  In  this  part  of  their  work,  even  more  than  in 


37 

giving  emergent  relief,  there  is  great  variation  in  the 
method  used,  in  the  ideal  set  before  the  visitors,  and  in 
the  results  achieved  by  the  different  societies.  Perhaps 
the  most  striking  impression  made  on  the  credit  side, 
taking  them  all  together,  is  their  patience,  courage,  and 
persistence  in  dealing  with  the  individual  family  prob- 
lems in  the  face  of  the  difficult  task  imposed  upon  them 
by  such  conditions  as  we  have  already  discussed  and  those 
to  which  we  have  -still  to  call  attention.  There  is  much 
ingenuity  in  many  of  the  plans  made  and  much  flexibility 
in  carrying  them  out  as  conditions  in  the  family  life 
change. 

The  relief  which  the  societies  supply  is  sometimes  in- 
adequate in  amount  and  sometimes  the  basic  plan  upon 
which  it  is  given  is  inadequate  and  ill-considered,  but  the 
instances  of  failure  with  respect  to  suitability  of  employ- 
ment, fundamental  health  needs,  attention  to  the  individ- 
uality of  children,  the  securing  of  an  attractive  and  sani- 
tary home,  and  other  essentials  of  family  life,  are  more 
numerous  and  more  serious  than  the  inadequacy  in  the 
amount  of  relief.  It  should  be  said,  however,  that  in- 
creasingly on  the  part  of  these  societies  there  is  a  recog- 
nition that  many  more  things  need  to  be  done  now  than 
formerly  in  any  work  with  families  which  deserves  to  be 
called  successful.  The  giving  of  special  diet,  attention  to 
decayed  teeth,  not  only  as  a  cause  of  needless  suffering 
and  disfigurement,  but  as  a  channel  of  infection,  a  look- 
out for  mental  deficiency  or  backwardness  requiring 
special  attention,  and  the  general  examination  for  tuber- 
culosis and  similar  infections,  are  striking  illustrations 
of  the  advancing  standard  of  family  service  set  for  them- 
selves by  the  societies.  When  every  possible  criticism 
has  been  made  of  the  quality  of  the  work  done  it  remains 


38 

true  that  the  societies  are  preventing  an  almost  incon- 
ceivable amount  of  suffering,  and  making  possible  an  ap- 
proach to  normal  family  life  for  many  of  those  who  come 
to  them  for  help. 

INADEQUACY  OF  RELIEF 

It  would  be  exceedingly  difficult  to  make  any  statis- 
tical comparison  of  the  amounts  given  with  the  amounts 
which  should  have  been  given  to  make  relief  adequate. 
One  reason  is  that  no  such  comparison  could  take  into 
account  the  personal  factor  either  in  the  family  helped 
or  in  the  visitor  through  whom  the  relief  is  given.  Twen- 
ty dollars  a  month  in  the  hands  of  a  capable  housekeeper 
will  go  further  in  supplying  essential  needs  than  twice 
that  sum  with  one  who  does  not  know  how  to  spend  it. 
Twenty  dollars  spent  under  the  supervision  of  a  trained 
social  worker,  who  is  competent  to  give  sound  advice  and 
has  the  persistence  to  see  that  it  is  followed,  may  accom- 
plish as  much  as  twice  that  sum  without  such  direction- 
even  if  the  mother  whom  she  is  aiding  is  not  herself  of 
exceptional  ability  as  a  housekeeper.  Moreover  in  every 
family  there  are  such  constantly  shifting  considerations, 
such  as  securing  or  losing  or  change  of  employment  and 
illness  and  recovery,  the  disappearance  and  reappearance 
of  relatives  and  friends,  and  the  growing  up  of  children— 
that  any  calculation  as  to  what  the  budgetary  needs  of  the 
family  are,  however  accurate,  would  ordinarily  remain 
valid  only  for  a  short  time.  This  is  not  to  deny  that  a 
carefully  prepared  tentative  budget,  from  accurate  data 
secured  for  the  purpose,  may  be  made  a  basis  for  regular 
allowance  to  meet  the  deficit  of  income. 

Moreover  the  case  records  may  profitably  be  scrutin- 
ized to  see  whether  there  is  evidence  of  inadequacy  in 


39 

relief.  They  are  competent  evidence  if  rightly  used.  If 
conditions  in  the  family  do  not  improve,  but  steadily 
grow  worse,  this  raises  at  least  a  presumption  that  there 
is  inadequacy  in  relief  or  in  treatment.  This  presump- 
tion may  be  set  aside  by  evidence  that  everything  has 
been  done  which  is  humanly  possibly  to  prevent  the  de- 
terioration, and  that  it  is  due  either  to  irremediable 
causes  in  the  family  or  to  social  and  economic  causes  out- 
side over  which  the  society  could  not  exercise  control. 
Examining  the  records  from  this  point  of  view  they  do 
show  inadequacy  of  relief  and  of  treatment  in  a  propor- 
tion of  cases  which  although  it  cannot  be  stated  in  figures 
is  certainly  large  enough  to  cause  serious  concern. 

Good  work  is  done  in  many  cases  with  good  results. 
Good  work  is  done  in  many  other  cases  with  no  manifest 
results.  In  still  other  cases  improvements  on  the  one 
hand,  or  deteriorations  on  the  other,  may  take  place  in- 
dependently of  any  particular  relief  or  service  rendered 
by  the  society,  and  in  still  other  cases  things  drift  along 
with  no  evidences  of  any  particular  change  either  for 
better  or  worse,  whether  relief  is  given  or  withheld. 

No  doubt  it  would  be  satisfactory  to  many  minds  if 
we  were  able  to  present  a  table  indicating  in  just  what 
number  of  families  these  varying  results  are  shown  and 
what  percentage  each  class  constitutes  of  the  whole.  To 
those  who  are  primarily  concerned  about  the  families,  or 
about  the  improvement  of  the  quality  of  the  work  done 
in  their  behalf  by  the  charitable  societies,  the  more  gen- 
eral and  therefore,  considering  the  lack  of  material  for 
statistical  analysis,  more  accurate  statements  will  suffice. 


40 

INHERENT  WEAKNESS  OF  CHARACTER 

The  results,  as  we  have  said  earlier  in  this  report, 
leave  much  to  be  desired.  A  large  proportion  of  all  the 
records  bear  witness  to  a  very  limited  success  in  secur- 
ing normal  conditions  for  growing  children  or  to  any 
decided  improvement  in  the  conditions  of  family  life.  "We 
have  next  to  ask  for  the  reasons  for  this  limited  success. 

One  possible  explanation,  which  should  have  candid 
consideration,  is  that  the  physical,  mental,  and  moral 
constitution  of  the  individuals  in  the  families  in  question 
is  inferior.  It  may  be  alleged  that  in  spite  of  some  excep- 
tions we  have  here  to  do  with  distinctly  sub-normal 
people. 

We  have  seen  that  the  charitable  societies  come  in 
contact  with  from  three  to  ten  percent  of  the  widows  in 
New  York  City  who  have  small  children  dependent  upon 
them.  What  might  be  said  is  that  this  small  percentage 
includes  nearly  all  of  the  least  efficient,  the  least  capable, 
the  degenerate,  the  unfit.  No  wonder  then  that  the  con- 
ditions 'of  their  family  life  do  not  improve ;  that  the  health 
of  the  mother  breaks  down  whether  she  is  at  work  or  idle ; 
that  tuberculosis  and  alcoholism  find  congenial  soil ;  that 
children  inevitably  show  on  the  whole  the  same  weak- 
nesses as  their  parents ;  that  m'ost  of  the  high  hopes  based 
upon  their  coming  of  working  age  result  in  disillusion- 
ment as  they  arrive  at  an  age  when  their  inherent  lack 
of  energy,  of  ambition,  of  responsibility,  become  ap- 
parent. The  families  in  short  cannot  be  rehabilitated, 
cannot  be  improved,  cannot  even  be  maintained  in  such 
a  way  as  to  secure  a  normal  development  of  the  children, 
because  the  original  material  is  defective,  because  there 
is  much  more  than  the  average  tendency  towards  feeble- 


41 

mindedness  and  pauperism,  in  the  sense  in  which  this 
implies  weakness  of  character. 

If  it  is  only  a  question  of  degree,  there  is  undoubtedly 
some  truth  in  this  explanation.  Probably  as  compared 
with  the  five  thousand  families  of  widows  next  above 
them  in  the  economic  scale,  the  group  represented  by 
those  whose  records  have  been  examined  for  the  commit- 
tee have  less  original  ability  and  physical  vigor.  Pos- 
sibly there  may  be  among  them  a  larger  number  who 
drink,  who  neglect  their  children,  and  who  pass  on  to 
those  children  by  inheritance  some  perverted  or  degen- 
erate characteristics.  Whether  this  is  so  or  not,  it  can- 
not be  doubted  that  they  have  these  handicaps  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  call  for  careful  examination  and  appropriate 
treatment. 

To  meet  these  needs,  the  societies  are  pressing  vig- 
orously for  suitable  institutional  care  for  the  demon- 
strably  feeble-minded ;  for  reformatory  correctional  care 
of  those  who  need  institutional  discipline;  and  for  sur- 
gical or  medical  attention  to  those  for  whom  operations, 
hospital  or  dispensary  treatment,  'or  professional  advice 
would  be  beneficial.  The  charitable  societies  in  their 
daily  routine  work,  in  spite  of  the  instances  to  the  con- 
trary, are  exercising  a  persistent  pressure  on  the  indi- 
viduals and  families  under  their  care  to  obtain  physical 
and  mental  examination  with  appropriate  action.  Oth- 
ers may  be  more  loudly  proclaiming  the  dangers  of  so- 
cial neglect  in  this  matter,  but,  as  far  as  the  poorest  and 
the  most  hopeless  elements  in  the  population  are  con- 
cerned, it  is  the  social  workers  who  are  practically  pre- 
venting such  neglect,  who  are  patiently  case  by  case  en- 
couraging right  action,  protesting  against,  and  in  ex- 
treme instances  invoking  'official  authority  to  prevent,  a 


42 

course  which  would  be  directly  injurious.  Visiting 
nurses,  visiting  school  teachers,  church  visitors,  and  con- 
spicuously the  agents  and  visitors  of  charitable  societies, 
may  justly  claim  to  have  been  the  first,  as  they  are  still 
the  most  active,  allies  of  those  physicians,  perhaps  a 
minority  in  their  'own  profession,  who  are  trying  to  pro- 
mote conservative  eugenic  policies,  to  segregate  the 
feeble-minded  and  unsound,  to  remedy  physical  defects 
when  possible,  and  to  secure  for  abused  and  neglected 
children  the  protection  which  society  owes  them.  This 
is  what  they  are  doing  in  their  daily  rounds.  To  assume 
that  social  workers  in  the  charitable  societies  are  al- 
moners, or  are  merely  investigating  the  need  for  relief, 
is  to  betray  gross  and  inexcusable  ignorance  of  their 
work.  They  are  investigating  the  whole  complex  situa- 
tion in  the  families  under  their  care,  with  a  view  to  secur- 
ing, and  with  the  practical  result  of  actually  securing 
when  possible,  the  financial  relief,  the  medical  or  surgical 
relief,  the  educational  opportunities,  the  industrial  op- 
portunities, of  which  the  need  is  disclosed  by  the  orig- 
inal investigation  and  by  subsequent  acquaintance.  All 
that  can  be  said  on  this  subject  therefore  is  that,  while 
in  many  instances  the  material  to  work  upon  is  indeed 
unpromising,  so  that  there  is  no  occasion  for  surprise  if 
tangible  good  results  are  not  obtained,  nevertheless  the 
general  policies  which  are  followed,  as  disclosed  by  the 
case  records  and  by  conferences  with  the  workers  in  the 
societies,  are  such  as  are  calculated  to  minimize  the  evils 
and  to  discover  and  develop  the  strength  even  of  the  un- 
promising material. 


43 

SOCIAL  CAUSES  OF  POVERTY 

The  second  explanation  to  be  considered  for  the  lack 
of  improvement  in  some  families — and  here  we  are  upon 
surer  ground — is  that  the  overwhelming  mass  of  human 
misery,  of  which  the  suffering  and  dependence  in  these 
few  thousand  families  of  widows  is  but  a  part,  is  the 
result  of  causes  and  conditions  with  which  both  voluntary 
charity  and  public  relief  as  such  are  powerless  to 
deal.  Tuberculosis,  typhoid,  fatal  industrial  injuries, 
insufficient  pay,  economic  inefficiency,  the  physical  strain 
of  overwork,  the  exploitation  of  the  vices  and  weaknesses 
of  men  and  women  for  commercial  profit,  are  all  sub- 
jects with  which  social  workers  in  the  charitable  socie- 
ties are  deeply  concerned,  but  for  which  the  remedies 
lie  in  other  and  more  powerful  hands.  Concerning  the 
great  creative  forces  of  the  misery  which  they  are  called 
upon  to  investigate  and  relieve  in  individual  instances 
they  can  only  lift  up  their  voices  in  eloquent  testimony. 
They  may  testify  also,  as  has  been  intimated,  to  human 
weaknesses,  to  lack  of  energy  and  resistance,  to  the  fact 
that  some  human  beings  are  apparently  from  their  birth 
doomed  to  failure  in  any  severe  life  struggle.  But  they 
may  well  be  appalled  when  they  see  such  weaker  persons, 
and  others  not  by  any  means  unfit  for  any  reason- 
able struggle,  subjected  to  uncontrolled  infection,  to 
overcrowding,  to  overwork  and  injurious  strain,  to 
ingeniously  fiendish  temptations  such  as  the  strongest 
would  not  resist  under  similar  circumstances,  to  a  neces- 
sity of  paying  the  highest  prices  for  inferior,  diluted  and 
polluted  commodities  and  services,  and  to  the  further 
necessity  of  providing  from  their  own  insufficient  re- 
sources, and  by  their  own  inadequate  efforts,  for  such 
contingencies  as  sickness  and  death  in  the  family,  for 


44 

childbirth,  for  infirmity  and  old  age,  for  unemployment 
whether  due  to  personal  fault  and  inefficiency  or  to  in- 
dustrial causes  affecting  an  entire  group  or  an  entire 
community  of  workers.  The  large  lesson  to  be  learned 
from  any  such  study  of  the  widows '  problem  as  has  been 
made  for  the  committee  is  that  of  the  responsibility  of 
the  community  for  much  the  larger  part  of  the  sickness, 
death  and  dependence  which  constitute  that  problem,  and 
the  utter  inadequacy  of  either  public  relief  or  voluntary 
relief  to  widows  as  a  solution  of  that  problem.  Until 
the  community  responsibility  for  the  social  and  industrial 
causes  of  poverty  are  more  fully  met  it  will  be  unreason- 
able to  expect  either  public  relief  officials  or  voluntary 
agencies  to  secure  a  reasonable  standard  of  living  and 
normal  family  life  for  any  large  proportion  of  those 
whom  they  seek  to  aid.  The  charitable  agencies  do,  how- 
ever, come  to  have  a  large  amount  of  valuable  evidence  of 
the  need  for  preventive  social  measures  and  their  lead- 
ers have  been  conspicuous  in  initiating  and  advocating 
such  action. 

THE  NEED  FOR  WORKERS 

In  the  third  place  consideration  must  be  given  to  the 
causes  for  unsatisfactory  results  which  lie  within  the  so- 
cieties or  in  their  financial  resources.  The  most  glaring 
need,  as  shown  by  the  case  records,  is  one  to  which  their 
officers  and  directors  have  long  been  alive,  but  which  for 
various  reasons  still  remains  serious.  This  is  the  lack  of 
a  sufficient  number  of  capable  trained  visitors  to  do  the 
work  of  their  relief  departments.  There  is  not  merely  a 
lack  of  training  and  of  special  ability  for  this  work ;  there 
is  a  lack  of  a  sufficient  number  of  workers  of  any  kind. 
To  each  visitor  is  given  responsibility  for  far  too  many 


45 

families.  Districts  are  too  large.  The  pressure  of  emer- 
gent work  is  so  severe  that  there  is  little  opportunity  for 
quiet,  deliberate  consideration  about  difficult  situations. 
There  is  of  necessity  too  much  of  perpetual  emergency 
rush  and  too  little  time  and  insistence  upon  thorough 
and  constructive  plans. 

Even  however  if  there  were  enough  visitors  and  super- 
visors to  do  the  work,  it  would  not  be  satisfactorily  done 
without  a  higher  standard  of  selection,  of  professional 
preparation,  and  of  compensation.  This  is  a  very  dis- 
tinct kind  of  service  calling  for  altogether  exceptional 
qualities.  Mere  physical  endurance  is  severely  taxed  by 
it.  The  power  to  think — to  observe,  and  to  form  sound 
judgments — is  essential.  No  superior  spiritual  quality 
comes  amiss  in  the  complex  human  relationships  which 
an  investigation  and  the  resulting  care  of  a  family  in- 
volve. 

Professional  training  schools  are  now  available  for 
the  more  direct  and  complete  preparation  of  those  who 
have  the  general  education  and  personal  equipment  re- 
quired for  this  exacting  work.  By  a  preliminary  study 
of  methods  and  technique,  and  by  supervised  field  work 
in  connection  with  such  study,  a  qualified  candidate  for 
social  work  will  n'ot  only  save  the  time  and  money  of  the 
society,  but  will  lay  the  foundation  for  a  kind  and  amount 
of  genuinely  helpful  service  that  can  scarcely  be  gained 
even  by  the  most  competent  person  who  has  had  no  such 
preliminary  training.  The  number  of  such  carefully 
selected  and  professionally  trained  social  workers  in  the 
societies  is  increasing,  and  it  is  true  that  some  of  the 
most  successful  have  not  had  such  opportunities.  Never- 
theless a  substantial  increase  in  the  number  of  those 
who  have  had  previous  training  to  fit  them  specifically 


46 

for  this  work  would  be  most  advantageous  to  the  societies 
and  to  those  whom  they  are  called  upon  to  serve.  In  at 
least  four  of  the  six  societies  it  will  be  necessary  to  in- 
crease salaries  substantially  if  such  qualified  and  pre- 
pared visitors  are  to  be  secured  and  retained  against  the 
competition  of  'other  kinds  of  social  work  and  other  out- 
side vocations  which  appeal  to  the  same  kind  of  workers, 
or  if,  quite  aside  from  such  competition,  visitors  are  to 
keep  themselves  physically  and  mentally  fit  for  their 
work. 

DANGER  OF  ROUTINE 

The  impression  made  by  the  examination  of  a  large 
number  of  records  in  rapid  succession  is  that  the  so- 
cieties are  in  danger  of  falling  into  a  narrow  routine, 
covering  only  a  comparatively  small  number  of  the  items 
necessary  to  successful  relief  work.  In  most  instances 
attention  is  paid  to  relief,  even  though  the  amount  given 
may  not  be  adequate;  to  appropriate  relief  responsibil- 
ity, whether  it  should  come  for  example  from  church, 
employer,  lodge,  or  relatives;  to  keeping  wage  earners 
at  work;  to  emergency  health  needs;  and  to  school 
attendance. 

Less  often  is  serious  attention  given  to  fundamental 
health  needs,  to  vocational  interests  of  children,  to  dis- 
crimination between  possible  places  of  employment  for 
wage  earners,  to  recreation,  or  to  moral  and  spiritual 
influences.  Grave  suspicion  of  the  immorality  of  the 
mothers  has  in  some  instances  served  as  a  reason  for 
withdrawing  relief,  regardless  of  the  children.  Such  a 
suspicion  in  the  mind  of  a  competent  visitor  is  only 
ground  for  more  careful  and  effective  work. 


47 

Visitors  are  sometimes  too  easily  discouraged  by  a 
lack  of  cooperation  on  the  part  of  the  family  or  by  unex- 
pected complications.  Investigations  are  often  inade- 
quate and  the  relief  and  service  which  should  logically 
fellow  investigation  are  naturally  inadequate  also.  There 
is  too  little  individualizing  of  children,  and  in  many  cases 
no  satisfactory  account  of  the  care  which  they  receive 
while  the  mother  is  at  work. 

No  one  can  tell  to  what  extent  the  amount  available 
for  relief  is  insufficient  until  competent  service  is  the 
rule  rather  than  the  exception ;  but  that  in  cases  of  need 
for  continued  relief  the  amount  actually  given  is  often 
inadequate,  is  certain. 

RECORDS  DO  NOT  TELL  THE  WHOLE  STORY 

In  fairness  to  the  societies  it  must  be  recognized  that 
no  case  records  can  fully  disclose  the  quality  or  amount 
of  work  done  or  the  actual  relations  which  often  exist 
between  a  district  secretary  or  a  visitor  and  her  fam- 
ilies. These  personal  relations  may  become  a  vital  fac- 
tor in  securing  most  gratifying  results  which  are  not 
disclosed,  because  visitors  are  naturally  reluctant  to  de- 
scribe them.  Records  are  not  kept  for  the  purpose  of 
presenting  the  societies  and  their  workers  in  a  favorable 
light.  They  are  kept  mainly  for  a  very  practical  pur- 
pose,— to  enable  the  societies  when  action  is  necessary 
on  behalf  of  the  family  to  act  intelligently,  on  the  basis 
of  previous  experience,  and  without  the  necessity  of  re- 
peating an  investigation  once  thoroughly  made.  To  ex- 
plain in  detail  the  reason  for  every  decision,  and  to  rec- 
ord every  suggestion  made  and  urged,  or  even  every  in- 
dication of  progress,  would  be  an  intolerable  tax  upon 
the  time  of  the  visitors.  No  doubt  some  time  might  be 


48 

saved  by  omitting  from  the  records  irrelevant  and  un- 
important entries,  but  even  greater  discrimination  in 
this  respect  would  not  make  the  records  a  safe  exclusive 
source  of  information. 

The  particular  cases  studied  for  this  report  may  not 
have  been  representative.  The  chronological  selection 
of  cases,  when  it  does  not  include  all  for  a  period  as  long 
as  a  year,  may  have  operated  to  make  the  showing  less 
favorable  than  strict  justice  requires.  Moreover,  even 
these  particular  records  might  have  produced  a  differ- 
ent impression  on  the  minds  of  others.  While  we  have 
not  understated,  or  condoned,  the  defects  clearly  shown, 
we  have  canvassed  them  fully  with  groups  of  visitors  in 
nearly  all  of  the  societies,  and  with  their  executive  of- 
ficers, to  guard  against  inadvertent  injustice.  Of  course 
it  is  not  suggested  that  such  conferences  commit  those 
who  have  participated  in  them  to  the  conclusions  stated 
in  the  report. 

THE  COMMITMENT  OF  CHILDREN 

We  may  now  return  to  the  first  of  our  three  orig- 
inal questions;  as  to  whether  children  are  committed 
who  should  remain  with  their  mothers,  the  only  reason 
for  such  commitment  being  the  poverty  of  a  widowed 
mother. 

The  consensus  of  opinion  from  every  group  of  social 
workers  whom  we  have  been  able  to  consult,  and  the  evi- 
dence of  the  records  in  the  Bureaus  of  Dependent  Chil- 
dren in  the  Department  of  Public  Charities,  is  that  this 
is  very  exceptional  and  in  so  far  as  it  does  occur  wholly 
unnecessary. 

In  335  of  the  460  families  of  widows  from  which  chil- 
dren were  committed  in  1912  for  the  assigned  cause 


49 

" Death  of  the  father",  there  were  conditions  present 
other  than  poverty  which  seem  to  justify  the  commit- 
ment. 

The  character  of  the  disabilities  in  these  335  families 
is  indicated  in  the  following  table : 

Number  of 
families. 

1.  Mother  ill  or  in  an  institution 189 

2.  Mother  unable  to  control  children  or  child  in- 
corrigible or  a  truant 121 

3.  Moral  conditions  in  family  unsafe,  including 
30  in  which  the  mother  was  immoral  or  of 
doubtful  character 43 

4.  Mother  intemperate 31 

5.  Mother  neglectful,  unwilling  to  keep  children, 
unreliable,  or  a  deserter 27 

6.  Mother    of    doubtful    sanity    (13)    or    feeble 
minded    (8) 21 

7.  Child  defective  or  in  need  of  special  care 23 

8.  Special     circumstances     making     commitment 
desirable    29 

NEITHER  HELP  NOR  COMMITMENT 

In  25  cases  neither  commitment  nor  help  at  home  was 
really  necessary,  as  the  later  records  show  in  each  case 
either  that  the  child  did  not  actually  go  to  the  institution 
although  commitment  was  formally  approved,  or  that  the 
child  has  since  been  discharged  to  the  mother  or  rela- 
tives and  is  being  properly  cared  for  under  circum- 
stances substantially  identical  with  those  which  existed 
at  the  time  of  application  for  commitment. 


ONE  HUNDRED  WIDOWS  SHOULD  HAVE  BEEN 

HELPED 

In  100  cases,  a  little  over  twenty  per  cent  of  the  460 
(involving  less  than  four  per  cent  of  the  total  number 
of  children  committed  in  the  year  for  all  causes)  a  sym- 
pathetic examination  of  the  records  in  the  Department 
of  Charities  and  in  the  societies,  supplemented  by  a  visit 
to  the  families  when  there  was  no  society  record,  indi- 
cates that  commitment  might  have  been  prevented  by 
assistance  at  home. 

These  100  cases  may  be  roughly  classified  as  follows : 

Mother  considered  capable  of  caring  for  children  com- 
mitted because  at  the  time  she  continued  to  care  for 
other  children,  and  there  is  no  record  of  any  posi- 
tive disability  73 

Children  who  were  committed  subsequently  discharged 
to  their  mother,  no  disability  named 12 

Other  evidence  that  mother  could  have  cared  for  chil- 
dren or  that  commitment  was  inadvisable. .  15 


100 


The  following  table  shows  the  distribution  of  the  460 
families  between  the  Manhattan  and  Brooklyn  Bureaus 
of  Dependent  Children  and  among  the  six  societies,  and 
also,  in  each  case,  the  proportion  formed  by  the  families 
in  which  commitment  probably  was  unnecessary  and 
undesirable.  It  is  noticeable  that  a  considerably  higher 
percentage  of  those  in  Brooklyn  should  not  have  been 
committed. 


51 


Number  of  cases  in  which 

Percentage  in  which  there 
should  have  been  help  instead 
of  commitment 

There  should  have  been 
commitment 

There  should  have  been  help 
instead  of  commitment 

Neither  help  nor  commitment 
was  necessary 

TOTAL 

Manhattan  Bureau  of  Dependent  Children 

Charity  Organization    Society     ...... 

46 
34 
45 
68 

6 
10 

9 
12 

3 
4 
2 
4 

55 

48 
56 
84 

11 
21 
17 

14 

Association  for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor 

Total 

193 

37 

13 

243 

15 

Brooklyn  Bureau  of  Dependent  Children 

60 
1 
11 
70 

32 
1 
5 
25 

4 
8 

% 
2 
16 
103 

33 

«• 

* 
24 

Association  for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor 
United  Jewish  Aid  Society      ....... 

Total 

142 

63 

12 

217 

29 
21.7 

GRAND  TOTAL 

335 

100 

25 

460 

Numbers  too  small  to  justify  attaching  significance  to  percentage. 


52 

INTERPRETATION 

This  estimate  that  in  one  hundred  families  commit- 
ment should  have  been  prevented  by  private  help  is  not 
to  be  taken  as  a  reflection  upon  the  bureaus  through 
which  the  children  were  committed,  or  upon  the 
charitable  societies.  It  is  made  in  the  light  of  evidence 
which  was  not  always  available  when  the  decision  oc- 
curred, and  on  the  other  hand  some  of  the  considerations 
which  influenced  the  officers  of  the  bureau  who  had  the 
applicants  personally  before  them  may  not  appear  in  the 
case  records.  Aside  from  such  facts,  it  is  sometimes 
exceedingly  difficult  to  decide  upon  what  is  the  proper 
course.  Two  equally  competent  persons  might  reach 
opposite  conclusions  even  on  the  same  statement  of  facts. 

For  example,  a  widowed  mother  who  is  ill,  and  some 
of  whose  children  under  ten  years  of  age  are  truant  and 
hard  to  control,  surely  needs  effective  help,  but  whether 
this  help  should  take  the  form  of  immediate  commit- 
ment of  one  or  more  children  to  an  institution  may  admit 
of  more  than  one  answer.  In  this  report  such  cases  are 
included  among  those  in  which  commitment  is  deemed 
advisable.  This  view  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  this 
is  the  course  which  was  actually  followed  and  a  certain 
presumption  in  favor  of  the  soundness  of  the  decision 
of  the  officials  in  charge  of  the  bureau  is  certainly  war- 
ranted. If  there  were  in  the  community  more  varied  and 
abundant  resources  for  dealing  with  such  children  under 
the  circumstances,  some  other  alternatives  might  have 
been  preferred.  Such  difficult  problems  are  frequent  and 
cannot  be  solved  without  a  nice  balancing  of  the  degree 
of  truancy  and  "incorrigibility"  of  the  children  on  the 
one  hand  and  the  seriousness  and  probable  duration  of 
the  mother's  illness  on  the  other.  Probably  some  such 


53 

commitments  could  be  prevented  with  advantage  to  the 
families  concerned. 

Again,  the  mothers  who  are  actually  allowed  to  retain 
the  custody  of  some  of  their  children  are  counted  in  our 
estimate  among  those  who  should  be  aided  so  as  to  make 
unnecessary  the  commitment  of  any.  The  assumption 
here  is  that  if  the  mother  is  a  proper  guardian  for  some 
of  her  children  and  can  support  them  at  home,  she  could 
properly  care  for  all  of  them  if  helped  adequately  by 
relief.  This  might  not  always  be  a  safe  assumption. 
Mothers  cannot  be  summarily  classified  into  those  who 
can  and  those  who  cannot  care  for  children,  regardless 
of  their  number,  their  ages,  their  disposition,  their 
health,  and  other  modifying  circumstances.  A  mother 
might  give  admirable  care  to  one  child  without  assistance 
and  fail  to  give  proper  care  to  three  even  with  the  most 
liberal  allowance. 

IMPRESSIONS 

The  examination  of  the  records  of  these  families  from 
which  children  are  committed  leads  to  certain  distinct  im- 
pressions. 

Most  fundamental  is  the  abiding  impression  of  the 
futility  of  any  or  all  efforts  combined  to  make  good  to 
a  family  the  loss  of  a  husband  and  father  who  has  played 
his  full  part  in  the  family  previous  to  his  fatal  illness. 
Coupled  with  this  is  a  sense  of  the  complexity  of  need 
presented  by  these  families.  Sixty-six  of  them  for  ex- 
ample, had  not  only  one,  but  two  or  more  of  the  eight 
principal  disabilities  enumerated  above  as  presumptive 
reasons  for  commitment. 

The  home  life  of  many  of  these  widows  with  chil- 
dren, especially  of  those  who  do  not  apply  to  the  societies 


for  aid,  is  precarious  in  the  extreme.  A  brief  illness, 
or  a  temporary  loss  of  work,  or  even  a  cut  in  wages, 
may  break  up  a  family  and  scatter  them — one  or  more 
to  an  institution,  one  or  more  to  relatives,  leaving  pos- 
sibly one  or  more  to  the  diminished  resources  of  the 
mother.  As  health  returns,  or  a  job  is  found,  or  a  higher 
wage  secured,  the  mother  may  be  seen  applying  for  the 
discharge  of  the  children  in  institutions,  taking  back 
those  who  have  been  with  relatives,  thus  gathering  all 
of  her  family  again  under  her  own  wing.  Sometimes 
this  reunion  is  followed  by  another  breaking  up  and 
scattering  when  misfortunes  fall.  Cases  are  numerous 
of  this  alternate  commitment  and  discharge,  commitment 
and  discharge. 

In  the  families  from  which  applications  for  commit- 
ment are  made,  there  is  an  impression  of  terrible  strug- 
gle to  make  the  few  dollars  remaining  from  insurance  or 
savings  after  the  husband's  death,  stretch  over  as  long 
a  period  as  possible — a  period,  however,  of  increasing 
poverty,  decreasing  strength,  and  multiplying  dangers 
to  the  family.  The  high  cost  of  funerals  and  the  close 
approximation  of  this  funeral  expense  to  the  amount  of 
the  insurance  constantly  force  themselves  upon  the  atten- 
tion. 

Some  at  least  of  the  cases  of  imm'orality  of  the  moth- 
er seem  to  have  been  fairly  attributable  to  the  presence 
of  a  male  lodger,  or  to  the  fact  that  the  mother  keeps 
house  for  a  widower,  typical  means  of  income  to  which 
some  widows  are  almost  forced  by  necessity.  Similarly 
the  incorrigibility  and  truancy  of  children  from  seven  to 
ten  years  of  age,  mention  of  which  frequently  occurs  in 
these  records,  seems  to  be  to  some  degree  occasioned  by 
the  fact  that  an  aged  grandmother  or  'other  female  rela- 


55 

tive  has  been  suddenly  charged  with  the  unfamiliar  and 
difficult  task  of  disciplining  boys  of  the  "big  Injun"  age. 
On  the  other  hand  a  young  grandmother  is  often  the  most 
steadying  influence  in  the  Italian  family.  Except  for 
her  presence  the  attempt  to  keep  the  children  with  their 
mother  would  be  much  like  turning  loose  a  lot  of  children 
to  bring  up  one  another. 

SELF  SUPPORTING  WIDOWS 

In  this  connection  the  question  fairly  arises  whether 
mothers  who  support  themselves  and  their  children  en- 
tirely without  assistance  are  doing  so  'only  at  an  ultimate 
sacrifice  of  health  and  of  maternal  home  care,  and  thus 
of  permanent  welfare,  which  society  cannot  afford.  Na- 
turally this  study  throws  only  indirect  light  on  this  ques- 
tion, since  there  has  been  no  direct  study  of  such  fam- 
ilies. It  is  however  a  fair  inference  from  the  facts  and 
impressions  made  by  the  records  of  the  families  known 
to  the  charitable  societies  and  to  the  Bureaus  of  De- 
pendent Children,  that  the  real  hardships  and  handicaps 
encountered  by  independent  working  mothers,  like  those 
to  which  we  have  called  attention  as  arising  in  the  fam- 
ilies under  consideration,  are  for  the  most  part  such  as 
can  be  removed  only  by  industrial  and  social  changes, 
by  radical  changes  in  the  conditions  affecting  women's 
work.  Their  hours  of  work  should  be  shortened;  their 
efficiency  increased  by  training  and  better  organization; 
their  wages  correspondingly  increased  and  standardized ; 
their  employment  adjusted  to  the  physiological  needs  of 
women;  the  supply  of  labor  adjusted  to  the  demands  by 
employment  exchanges,  intelligently  planned  and  con- 
ducted; cooperative  arrangements  effected  for  securing 


56 


proper  care  for  children,  chronic  invalids  or  aged  per- 
sons in  the  mother 's  temporary  absence,  s'o  that  a  woman 
capable  of  doing  more  productive  work  shall  not  be  de- 
barred from  undertaking  it  by  less  important  demands. 
These  reforms  are  not  in  the  least  inconsistent  with  the 
superior  claims  of  home  and  children  when  they  are  su- 
perior, but  they  are  in  the  direction  of  enabling  working 
women  to  decide  for  themselves,  as  working  men  decide 
for  themselves,  in  what  way  they  can  most  economically 
and  most  completely  meet  their  natural  obligations. 
Industrial  justice  clearly  involves  such  changes  in  public 
opinion,  such  protection  and  enlargement  'of  opportunity, 
as  have  been  suggested. 

Difficulties  arise  and  hardships  occur  primarily  be- 
cause women  are  not  trained  for  skilled  occupations, 
are  worn  out  by  long  hours  and  injurious  occu- 
pations, and  are  paid  far  less  than  a  living  wage. 
Belief  to  the  individual  victims  'of  industry  cannot 
change  industry.  The  only  cure  for  industrial  abuses 
is  industrial  betterment;  and  the  state  should  spend  its 
money  in  industrial  betterment  if  that  is  necessary 
rather  than  establish  a  system  of  relief  to  meet  the 
exigencies  of  a  situation  whicE  must  give  way  with  the 
coming  of  reforms  that  are  needed  and  needed  now. 


57 

SUMMARY 

The  main  results  of  this  inquiry  may  be  recapitulated 
as  follows: 

That  of  all  the  factors  involved  in  the  support 
of  widows  and  the  care  of  their  children,  the  main 
responsibility  is  upon  the  widows  themselves;  that 
they  are  entitled  to  the  credit  for  the  greater  part 
of  whatever  has  been  accomplished  in  the  families 
studied;  and  that  all  measures  intended  for  their  bene- 
fit should  be  judged  primarily  from  the  standpoint  of 
their  probable  effect  on  the  ability  of  the  widows  to  solve 
their  own  problems  and  those  of  their  children; 

That  widows  are  usually  capable  of  supporting  them- 
selves and  their  children  when  necessary,  but  that  in  do- 
ing so  they  encounter  great  obstacles  and  hardships, 
which  can  be  removed  only  by  radical  changes  in  the  con- 
ditions of  women's  work; 

That  the  occupations  in  which  widows  who  apply  for 
relief  are  engaged  are  characterized  by  inefficiency  of 
workers,  low  wages,  and  irregularity  of  employment; 

That  these  evils  can  be  met  only  by  early  training,  a 
better  distribution  of  workers  through  efficient  employ- 
ment exchanges,  and  higher  standards  of  compensation; 

That  vocational  training  and  guidance  for  children 
as  they  come  of  working  age,  and  sound  advice  as  to 
occupations,  are  urgently  needed; 

That  more  hospital  and  sanatorium  facilities  are  re- 
quired for  the  sick,  the  disabled,  the  infirm,  the  conval- 
escent, and  the  mentally  deficient;  facilities  both  for, 
diagnosis  and  for  treatment; 

That  although  great  improvements  have  been  made  in 
the  standards,  methods,  and  policies  of  the  charitable 
societies,  there  is  much  room  for  further  improvement; 


58 

That,  in  particular,  more  trained  workers,  with  higher 
salaries,  or  more  trained  volunteer  workers,  or  both, 
and  larger  resources  for  relief,  are  indispensable  for  the 
preservation  of  the  health  and  well  being  of  the  fam- 
ilies now  under  the  care  of  the  societies ; 

That  the  case  records  of  the  charitable  societies  indi- 
cate that  conditions  in  the  families  under  care  do  not 
always  improve,  but  sometimes  grow  worse,  these  unsat- 
isfactory results  being  due  partly  to  the  causes  just 
named,  but  in  large  part  to  personal  and  social  causes 
which  neither  public  relief  nor  voluntary  charity  can 
reach ;  but  upon  which  those  who  have  to  do  with  the  re- 
lief of  the  poor  should  constantly  insist ; 

That  mothers  who  are  suitable  guardians  for  their 
children,  physically  and  morally  able  to  care  for  them 
properly,  are  not  seeking  in  any  large  number  because 
of  poverty  alone  to  have  their  children  committed  as 
public  charges; 

That  the  charitable  societies  have  shown  both  the  de- 
sire and  the  financial  ability  to  provide  relief  in  such 
cases  when  called  to  their  attention,  although  in  these  as 
in  other  cases  the  relief  is  sometimes  inadequate; 

That  there  should  however  be  a  still  better  coordina- 
tion between  the  Bureaus  of  Dependent  Children  and 
the  voluntary  agencies  to  prevent  the  relatively  few  un- 
necessary commitments  of  this  kind  which  still  occur ; 

That  the  ideal  solution  of  the  widows'  problem  is  a 
longer  and  more  productive  life  for  working  fathers,  and 
provision  for  widowhood  and  orphanage  through  a  lib- 
eral, inexpensive,  and  safe  system  of  social  insurance. 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


WR  ^  6 


942    7 


Univer 

Sou 

Lil 


